Pele, perhaps the greatest player ever in the world’s most popular sport, is still trying to scratch out a living at the age of 68.
贝利(Pele)也许是足球这一世界上最热门的体育运动史上最伟大的球员，但已经68岁的他仍在辛苦谋生。
He’s just signed a merchandising deal with Nomis, a little-known Swiss cleat manufacturer, in a move that could become a runaway successor yet another example in a lengthy list of business deals whose history is as spotty as his goals were sublime.
他刚刚和瑞士一家不知名的足球鞋生产商Nomis公司签了一笔商业合同，这可能让这产品一炮而红，或者也有可能是又一个他与公司合作的失败案例，而他与其他公司在商业合作上成功和失败兼备的历史和他的伟大进球一样闻名。
On the soccer field, Pele’s legacy is virtually unrivaled in the modern history of international sports. A member of three World Cup champions, he scored nearly 1,300 goals in a career that spanned three decades and two continents. But during the 32 years since his retirement, Pele, once one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, has failed to leverage his fame into the vast fortune that other sports superstars like Michael Jordan enjoy today.
在足球场上，贝利创造的奇迹在现代国际体育史上几乎是无人匹敌的。作为三次获得世界杯的冠军队的队员，他的体育生涯历经三十年，足迹跨越两大洲，他共踢进了近1300个球。但在他退役后的32年间，这位世界上曾经最有名的运动员，却未能象迈克尔•乔丹（Michael Jordan）那样的体育明星一样利用个人名声，享受着日进斗金的快乐。
In some ways Pele himself is accountable for not capitalizing on his superstar status. Despite several overtures, he has never served as coach or a top team executive, or as a major television commentator in the spirit of ex-NFL great John Madden or golf’s Johnny Miller.
在某些方面，贝利自己对未能好好利用其巨星的地位负有责任。尽管造过一些声势，但他从未当上过教练或是任何顶级球队的主管，或是有像美国国家美式足球联盟（NFL）前明星球员约翰•麦登（John Madden）或高尔夫球员强尼•米勒（Johnny Miller）那样的劲头，当上大电视台的体育评论员。
But Pele’s circumstances can also be blamed on the year of his birth, since his career ended just before the emergence of the modern sports-marketing behemoths that, over time, have spawned a race between basketball’s LeBron James and golf’s Tiger Woods to become the first billionaire athlete. David Beckham, currently the world’s top-earning soccer player, collected about $45 million last year in salary and endorsements. Pele’s big payday, by contrast, came in 1975, when the New York Cosmos signed him for $4.5 millionthe top salary for a professional-team athlete in the U.S. at the time but about a third as much as the Kansas City Royals pay mediocre outfielder Jose Guillen.
但是贝利的处境也可以归咎于他的生不逢时，因为他的足球生涯恰恰结束在现代体育营销巨头出现之前。这些年来，这些巨头打造出了第一代体育界的亿万富翁，包括篮球明星勒布朗•詹姆斯（LeBron James）和高尔夫明星老虎•伍兹（TIGER WOODS）。当今世界收入最高的足球运动员大卫•贝克汉姆去年将4500万美元收入囊中，其中包括薪水和广告代言收入。而比较之下，贝利的辉煌日子却仅仅是1975年以450万美元的身价，加盟纽约宇宙队（New York Cosmos），那是当年美国职业运动员最高的薪水了，但这仅相当于现在的美国堪萨斯市皇家棒球队（Kansas City Royals）付给他们的平庸外场手荷塞•吉恩（Jose Guillen）薪水的三分之一。
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