當地時間本周二晚，本屆世界杯首場半決賽將在巴西與德國之間展開。雖然鎮隊之寶內馬爾因傷無法出戰，巴西人或許還有其它魔法可用。（圖片來源：Getty Images）

Yep, black magic enthusiast, Helio Sillman, says that he has placed a curse on Joachim Low’s Germany. “I’ll take their top player and bind his legs so he can’t run on the pitch,” said Sillman.

據福克斯體育7月7日報道，巫術愛好者赫利奧·希爾曼透露，他已經給勒夫率領的德國隊下了道詛咒。“我將鎖定德國隊的核心球員，施展巫術縛住他的雙腿，讓他無法在球場上奔襲。”希爾曼說。

Yikes!

天哪！

Of course, this naturally will lead to speculation as to who Sillman has cursed in particular. Could it be keeper Manuel Neuer, whose box-to-box rushes would be rendered useless? Or perhaps it’s Thomas Muller, the team’s current top goal-scorer at the World Cup? Or maybe Miroslav Klose, whose chasing the overall World Cup goal-record?

當然，這自然會引起人們的猜測：希爾曼特別“關照”的球員究竟是誰？會是門將諾伊爾嗎？若真如此，他的出擊型救險是否會失靈？或是目前隊內的射手王穆勒？又或是世界杯進球數追平記錄的克洛澤？

We’ll find out on Tuesday. As it happens, Sillman actually carries out a ritual before every Selecao game. By placing lit candles inside a small football pitch replica box, he uses a voodoo doll of the opposing team’s best player to curse them.

周二晚間，這一切就將見分曉。碰巧的是，桑巴軍團每場比賽之前，希爾曼都會舉行一種儀式。他將數支蠟燭點燃，放入小型足球場模型中，然后利用代表對方最佳球員的巫毒娃娃下咒。

It almost didn’t work in the quarterfinals, though. Colombia hero James Rodriguez nearly sank the Brazilians, but they clung on to defeat Los Cafeteros 2-1 last Friday.

然而，這招在四分之一決賽沒能成功。上周五，哥倫比亞英雄J羅（James Rodriguez）的進攻差點得手，不過，巴西人最終堅持到了最后，以2比1將“咖啡種植戶”送回了家。

Needless to say, Neymar, wasn’t saved by Sillman’s black magic, either, with his tournament-ending injury after breaking his back vertebra. To his credit, Sillman is claiming the victories over Cameroon, Chile, Croatia and Mexico as down to his voodoo skills.

毋庸置疑，希爾曼的巫術沒能挽救內馬爾，脊椎骨骨裂的重傷導致他將無緣余賽。但希爾曼聲稱，巴西人能橫掃喀麥隆、智利、克羅地亞和墨西哥等強隊，都要歸功于他的高明巫術。

If Germany are the next victims of Brazil’s magical run, we’ll know exactly who to thank or blame.

如果德國隊栽在巴西人的巫術上，我們就會知道該拜誰所“賜”了。

（譯者 helancheng 編輯 齊磊）