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Touched by God
by Diego Armando Maradona and Daniel ArcucciThe long-awaited firsthand account of the most remarkable—and controversial—World Cup triumph in history, from the legendary player who made it that way “This is Diego Armando Maradona speaking, the man who scored two goals against England and one of the few Argentines who knows how much the World Cup actually weighs”
In June 1986, Diego Maradona—one of soccer’s greatest and most polarizing figures—proudly hoisted the World Cup above his head. Since then, Argentina’s World Cup victory has become the stuff of legend, particularly their infamous victory over England—only four years after the country’s defeat in the Falklands War—which featured arguably the best goal in history (Maradona’s “Goal of the Century”) and the worst (the notorious “Hand of God”).
But Argentina’s victory came after months of struggle and discord within the team, including the Argentine government’s attempt to remove the team’s management, a lack of equipment that forced the players to buy their own uniforms, and an argument that caused the team’s captain to quit on the eve of the tournament.
Now, thirty years after Argentina’s magical victory, Maradona tells his side of the story, vividly recounting how he led the team to win one of the greatest World Cup triumphs of all time.
Coming Out to Play
by Eric Marcus and Robbie Rogers"Rogers made history." --Sports Illustrated
Robbie Rogers knows better than most that keeping secrets can crush you. But for much of his life Robbie lived in paralyzing fear that sharing his big secret would cost him the love of his family and his career as a professional soccer player. So he never told anyone what was destroying his soul, both on and off the field.
While the world around Robbie was changing with breathtaking speed, he knew that for a gay man playing a professional team sport it might as well be 1958. He could be a professional soccer player. Or he could be an out gay man. He couldn't do both.
Then last year, at the age of twenty-five and after nearly stepping away from a brilliant career--one that included an NCAA Championship, winning the MLS Cup, and competing in the Olympics--he chose to tell the truth. But instead of facing the rejection he feared, he was embraced--by his family, by his teammates, and his fans.
In Coming Out to Play, Robbie takes readers on his incredible journey from terrified teenager to a trailblazing out and proud professional soccer player for the L.A. Galaxy, who has embraced his new identity as a role model and champion for those still struggling with the secrets that keep them from living their dreams.
Futebol Nation
by David GoldblattNo nation is as closely identified with the game of soccer as Brazil. For over a century, Brazil's people, politicians, and poets have found in soccer the finest expression of the nation's collective potential.
Since the team's dazzling performance in 1938 at the World Cup in France, Brazilian soccer has been revered as an otherworldly blend of the effective and the aesthetic.
"Futebol Nation" is an extraordinary chronicle of a nation that has won the World Cup five times and produced players of miraculous skill, such as Pele, Garrincha, Rivaldo, Zico, Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho. It shows why the phrase "O Jogo Bonito" (the Beautiful Game)has justly entered the global lexicon. Yet there is another side to Brazil and its game, one that reflects the sociological realities.
Among the Thugs
by Bill BufordThey have names like Barmy Bernie, Daft Donald, and Steamin' Sammy. They like lager (in huge quantities), the Queen, football clubs (especially Manchester United), and themselves. Their dislike encompasses the rest of the known universe, and England's soccer thugs express it in ways that range from mere vandalism to riots that terrorize entire cities.
Now Bill Buford, editor of the prestigious journal Granta, enters this alternate society and records both its savageries and its sinister allure with the social imagination of a George Orwell and the raw personal engagement of a Hunter Thompson.
How Soccer Explains the World
by Franklin FoerSoccer is much more than a game, or even a way of life. It is a perfect window into the cross-currents of today's world, with all its joys and its sorrows.
In this remarkably insightful, wide-ranging work of reportage, Franklin Foer takes us on a surprising tour through the world of soccer, shining a spotlight on the clash of civilizations, the international economy, and just about everything in between.
How Soccer Explains the World is an utterly original book that makes sense of our troubled times.
Masters of Modern Soccer
by Grant WahlIn Masters of Modern Soccer, Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl asks: How do some of the game's smartest figures master the craft of soccer?
By profiling players in every key position (American phenomenon Christian Pulisic, Mexican superstar Javier "Chicharito" Hernández, Belgium's Vincent Kompany, Spain's Xabi Alonso, Germany's Manuel Neuer) and management (Belgium coach Roberto Martínez and Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc), Wahl reveals how elite players and coaches strategize on and off the field and execute in high pressure game situations.
Masters of Modern Soccer is the definitive thinking fan's guide to modern soccer. For a supporter of any team, from the U.S. national teams to Manchester United, or any competition, from Mexico's Liga MX to the World Cup, this book reveals what players and managers are thinking before, during, and after games and delivers a true behind-the-scenes perspective on the inner workings of the sport's brightest minds.
America's premier soccer journalist, Grant Wahl, follows world-class players from across the globe examining how they do their jobs. This access imbues Masters of Modern Soccer with deep insight from the players on how goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and forwards function individually and as a unit to excel and win.
Wahl also shadows a manager and director of soccer as they juggle the challenges of coaching, preparation, and the short- and long-term strategies of how to identify and acquire talent and deploy it on the field.
A book that will stand the test of time, Masters of Modern Soccer is the most in-depth analysis of the craft of soccer ever written for the American fan. For any fan, player, coach, or sideline enthusiast, this book will change the way they watch the game.
The Country of Football
by Roger KittlesonSoccer is the world's most popular sport, and the Brazilian national team is beloved around the planet for its beautiful playing style, the jogo bonito. With the most successful national soccer team in the history of the World Cup, Brazil is the only country to have played in every competition and the winner of more championships than any other nation. Soccer is perceived, like carnival and samba, to be quintessentially Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian. Yet the practice and history of soccer are also synonymous with conflict and contradiction as Brazil continues its trajectory toward modernity and economic power. The ongoing debate over how Team Brazil should play and positively represent a nation of demanding supporters bears on many crucial facets of a country riven by racial and class tensions. The Country of Football is filled with engaging stories of star players and other key figures, as well as extraordinary research on local, national, and international soccer communities. Soccer fans, scholars, and readers who are interested in the history of sport will emerge with a greater understanding of the complex relationship between Brazilian soccer and the nation's history.
Brazil's Dance with the Devil
by Dave ZirinThe people of Brazil celebrated when it was announced that they were hosting the twentieth World Cup (June 12-July 13, 2014), the world's most-viewed sporting tournament, and the thirty-first Summer Olympics (August 5-21, 2016).
Now they are protesting in numbers the country hasn't seen in decades, with Brazilians taking to the streets to try to reclaim the sports they love but see being corrupted by powerful corporate interests, profiteering, and greed.
In this compelling new book, relying on original reporting from the most dangerous corners of Rio to the halls of power in Washington, DC, Dave Zirin examines how sports and politics are colliding in remarkable fashion in Brazil, opening up an international conversation on the culture, economics, and politics of sports.
Soccernomics
by Simon Kuper and Stefan SzymanskiThe 2014 World Cup Edition of the book that does] for soccer what "Moneyball" did for baseball. -"New York Times"
Football Clichés
by Adam HurreyIn what other context do football fans use the words 'aplomb' or 'derisory'?
Why don't we use 'rifle' as a verb on the other six days of the week?
Why do aggrieved midfielders feel the instinctive need to make a giant ball-shaped gesture with both hands after a mistimed tackle is punished?
The more football Adam Hurrey watched, the more he began to spot the recurring mannerisms, behaviours, opinions and iconography that were mindlessly repeated in the football media.
Some cliches are ridiculous, some are quaintly outdated, some have survived through their sheer indisputability. Here, featuring gloriously pseudo-scientific diagrams and the inimitable writing style that made footballcliches.com a smash hit, they are covered in all their glory.
The Ball is Round
by David GoldblattThe definitive book about soccer. With a new foreword for the American edition.
There may be no cultural practice more global than soccer. Rites of birth and marriage are infinitely diverse, but the rules of soccer are universal. No world religion can match its geographical scope. The single greatest simultaneous human collective experience is the World Cup final.
In this extraordinary tour de force, David Goldblatt tells the full story of soccer's rise from chaotic folk ritual to the world's most popular sport-now poised to fully establish itself in the USA.
Already celebrated internationally, The Ball Is Round illuminates soccer's role in the political and social histories of modern societies, but never loses sight of the beauty, joy, and excitement of the game itself.
Fever Pitch
by Nick HornbyIn America, it is soccer.
But in Great Britain, it is the real football. No pads, no prayers, no prisoners. And that's before the players even take the field.
Nick Hornby has been a football fan since the moment he was conceived. Call it predestiny. Or call it preschool. Fever Pitch is his tribute to a lifelong obsession.
Part autobiography, part comedy, part incisive analysis of insanity, Hornby's award-winning memoir captures the fever pitch of fandom--its agony and ecstasy, its community, its defining role in thousands of young men's coming-of-age stories. Fever Pitch is one for the home team. But above all, it is one for everyone who knows what it really means to have a losing season.
Golazo!
by Andreas CampomarThe definitive book about the national identities, heroes, and dramatic stories from Latin American soccer throughout history--in time for the 2014 World Cup.
"Golazo!" means "amazing goal!" And the word perfectly captures the unique, exuberant, all-encompassing, passionate role that soccer plays in Latin America.
Andreas Campomar offers readers the definitive history of Latin American soccer from the early, deadly Mesoamerican ballgames to the multi-billion dollar international business it is today. Golazo! explores the intersection of soccer, politics, economics, high and low culture, and how passion for a game captured a continent.
Latin American soccer will be in the global spotlight more than ever in the coming years--both the next World Cup (2014) and the Summer Olympics (2016) will be hosted in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, a country for which soccer is not just a passion but a way of life. The triumphs, the heartbreaks, the origins and the future, the political and the personal--Golazo! is the perfect book for new fans and diehard followers around the world.
Fear and Loathing in La Liga
by Sid Lowe"Fear and Loathing in La Liga" is the definitive history of the greatest rivalry in world sport: FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid.
It's Messi vs. Ronaldo, Guardiola vs. Mourinho, the nation against the state, freedom fighters vs. Franco's fascists, plus majestic goals and mesmerizing skills. It's the best two teams on the planet going head-to-head. It's more than a game. It's a war. It's El Clisico.
Only, it's not quite that simple. Spanish soccer expert and historian Sid Lowe covers 100 years of rivalry, athletic beauty, and excellence. "Fear and Loathing in La Liga" is a nuanced, revisionist, and brilliantly informed history that goes beyond sport.
Lowe weaves together this story of the rivalry with the history and culture of Spain, emphasizing that it is never about just the soccer. With exclusive testimonies and astonishing anecdotes, he takes us inside this epic battle, including the wounds left by the Civil War, Madrid's golden age in the fifties when they won five European cups, Johan Cruyff's Barcelona Dream Team, the doomed Galictico experiment, and Luis Figo's betrayal.
Soccer in Sun and Shadow
by Eduardo GaleanoIn this witty and rebellious history of world soccer, award-winning writer Eduardo Galeano searches for the styles of play, players, and goals that express the unique personality of certain times and places.
In Soccer in Sun and Shadow, Galeano takes us to ancient China, where engravings from the Ming period show a ball that could have been designed by Adidas to Victorian England, where gentlemen codified the rules that we still play by today and to Latin America, where the "crazy English" spread the game only to find it creolized by the locals.
All the greats-Pelé, Di Stéfano, Cruyff, Eusébio, Puskás, Gullit, Baggio, Beckenbauer- have joyous cameos in this book. yet soccer, Galeano cautions, "is a pleasure that hurts." Thus there is also heartbreak and madness. Galeano tells of the suicide of Uruguayan player Abdón Porte, who shot himself in the center circle of the Nacional's stadium; of the Argentine manager who wouldn't let his team eat chicken because it would bring bad luck; and of scandal-riven Diego Maradona whose real crime, Galeano suggests, was always "the sin of being the best."
Soccer is a game that bureaucrats try to dull and the powerful try to manipulate, but it retains its magic because it remains a bewitching game-"a feast for the eyes ... and a joy for the body that plays it"-exquisitely rendered in the magical stories of Soccer in Sun and Shadow.
Why Soccer Matters
by Pelé and Brian WinterSoccer. Football. The beautiful game. The world's most popular sport goes by many names, but for decades, fans have agreed on one thing: the greatest player of all time was Pelé.
Now the legendary star, ambassador, and humanitarian shares a global vision for what soccer can accomplish. Now he shares his story, his experience, and his insights on the game for the very first time.
Before Messi, before Ronaldo, before Beckham, there was Edson Arantes do Nascimento--known simply as Pelé. A national treasure, he created pure magic with his accomplishments on the field: an unprecedented three World Cup championships and the all-time scoring record, with 1,283 goals in his twenty year career.
Now, with the World Cup returning after more than sixty years to Brazil--the country often credited with perfecting the sport--soccer has a unique opportunity to encourage change on a global level. And as the tournament's official ambassador, Pelé is ready to be the face of progress.
For the first time ever Pelé explores the recent history of the game and provides new insights into soccer's role connecting and galvanizing players around the world. He has traveled the world as the global ambassador for soccer and in support of charitable organizations such as Unicef, promoting the positive influences soccer can have to transform young men and women, struggling communities, even entire nations. In groundbreaking detail and with unparalleled openness, he shares his most inspiring experiences, heartwarming stories and hard-won wisdom, and he puts the game in perspective.
This is Pelé's legacy, his way of passing on everything he's learned and inspiring a new generation. In Why Soccer Matters, Pelé details his ambitious goals for the future of the sport and, by extension, the world. Commemorative poster inside the jacket
Twelve Yards
by Ben LyttletonAn all-encompassing look at the penalty kick, soccer's all-or-nothing play--its legendary moments and the secrets to its success.No stretch of grass has been the site of more glory or heartbreak in the world of sports than the few dozen paces between goalkeeper and penalty kicker in soccer.
In theory, it's simple: place the ball beyond a single defender and secure a place in history. But once the chosen players make the lonely march from their respective sides of the pitch, everything changes, all bets are off, and anything can happen.
Drawing from the hardwon lessons of legendary games, in-depth statistical analysis, expert opinion, and the firsthand experience of coaches and players from around the world, journalist Ben Lyttleton offers insight into the diverse attitudes, tactics, and techniques that separate success from failure in one of the highest-pressure situations sports has to offer.
How to Watch Soccer
by Ruud GullitAn opinionated masterclass in the art and science of “reading” a match from one of professional soccer’s most respected and beloved international figures
Ruud Gullit knows better than anyone else that to understand soccer you have to understand strategy. When he started playing soccer, his only “strategy” was to get the ball, outrun everyone else to the other end of the field, and score. At first it served him well, but as he advanced through the sport, he learned that it takes much more than speed to make a winning team. He worked his way from the Dutch junior leagues all the way to the legendary AC Milan, eventually retiring from the field to be a trainer, then a manager, and finally a commentator.
Each step came with its own lessons, and its own unique perspective on the game. Having looked at soccer through just about every lens possible, Gullit is now sharing his own perspective. Most spectators simply watch the ball, but in How to Watch Soccer, Gullit explains how to watch the whole game. He shows how every part of a match, from formations to corner kicks, all the way down to what the players do to influence the referees, is important. And he uses his own vast experience to illustrate each point, so his lessons are filled with anecdotes from his years on the field and insights from his observations as a manager and commentator.
This exhaustive guide will change the way even the most die-hard fan watches the beautiful game.
The Numbers Game
by Chris Anderson and David SallyMoneyball meets Freakonomics in this myth-busting guide to understanding--and winning--the most popular sport on the planet
Innovation is coming to soccer, and at the center of it all are the numbers--a way of thinking about the game that ignores the obvious in favor of how things actually are. In The Numbers Game, Chris Anderson, a former professional goalkeeper turned soccer statistics guru, teams up with behavioral analyst David Sally to uncover the numbers that really matter when it comes to predicting a winner. Investigating basic but profound questions--How valuable are corners? Which goal matters most? Is possession really nine-tenths of the law? How should a player's value be judged?--they deliver an incisive, revolutionary new way of watching and understanding soccer.
The Damned Utd
by David PeaceHe was a real-life, working-class hero known as the "British Muhammad Ali"--because he had a big mouth and wasn't afraid to use it. But Brian Clough wasn't a boxer, he was a soccer coach, known for taking backwater teams and making them into champions.
In towns where people had little else, the hard-drinking and scrappy Clough was a hero. He was especially beloved for telling it like it was on behalf of small-town teams everywhere--calling out the stars who played dirty, rival coaches he suspected of bribing referees, and the league that let them get away with it.
And then one day Clough was offered a job coaching the big-city team he'd called the dirtiest--the perennial powerhouse Leeds United. The Damned Utd tells the story of the legendary Clough's tumultuous forty-four days trying to turn around a corrupt institution without being corrupted himself--the players who wouldn't play, the management that looked the other way, the wife and friends who stood by him as he fought to do the right thing.
The inspiring story behind the movie of the same name, The Damned Utd has been called by The Times of London, "The best novel ever written about sport."
A Season on the Brink
by Guillem BalagueBiographical Portrait of Liverpool's Spanish football manager Rafael Benitez and an extraordinary season for the club.
When Rafael Benitez was appointed manager of under-achieving Liverpool at the start of the 2004-2005 season, the reaction of many fans was 'Who the **** is Rafael Benitez?'.
The Liverpool fans had grown used to French manager Gerard Houllier but he had been a fan of the club himself since his days as a teacher on Merseyside. A Spaniard with admittedly a wonderful record at Valencia was going to take over management of Liverpool's famous Boot Room and try and win over a disillusioned Kop.
But in one season, Benitez's importation of Spanish players, coaching methods and diet has led to a revolution, even usurping Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, whereby the team has ended the season winning the ultimate trophy for any European club - the European Champions League. No fan will ever forget the comeback from a 3-0 deficit to a 3-3 scoreline, then dramatic success in the penalty shoot-out.
This is the story of Rafa's remarkable success.
What We Think About When We Think About Soccer
by Simon CritchleyYou play soccer. You watch soccer. You live soccer You breathe soccer. But do you think about soccer?
Soccer is the world’s most popular sport, inspiring the absolute devotion of countless fans around the globe. But what is it about soccer that makes it so compelling to watch, discuss, and think about? Is it what it says about class, race, or gender? Is it our national, regional, or tribal identities?
Simon Critchley thinks it’s all of these and more. In his new book, he explains what soccer can tell us about each, and how each informs the way we interpret the game, all while building a new system of aesthetics, or even poetics, that we can use to watch the beautiful game.
Critchley has made a career out of bringing philosophy to the people through popular subjects, and in What We Think About When We Think About Soccer he uses his considerable philosophical acumen to examine the sport that has captured the hearts and minds of millions.
Forward
by Abby WambachAbby Wambach has always pushed the limits of what is possible. At age seven she was put on the boys' soccer team. At age thirty-five she would become the highest goal scorer--male or female--in the history of soccer, capturing the nation's heart with her team's 2015 World Cup Championship.
Called an inspiration and "badass" by President Obama, Abby has become a fierce advocate for women's rights and equal opportunity, pushing to translate the success of her team to the real world. As she reveals in this searching memoir, Abby's professional success often masked her inner struggle to reconcile the various parts of herself: ferocious competitor, daughter, leader, wife.
With stunning candor, Abby shares her inspiring and often brutal journey from girl in Rochester, New York, to world-class athlete. Far more than a sports memoir, Forward is gripping tale of resilience and redemption--and a reminder that heroism is, above all, about embracing life's challenges with fearlessness and heart.
A New York Times Bestseller
American Huckster
by Teri Thompson and Mary PapenfussThe first inside account of the international soccer scandal that rocked the world and the American at its center--the incredible story of how a stay-at-home New York soccer dad illegally made millions off the world's most powerful and corrupt sports organization and became an unlikely FBI whistleblower.
He was the middle-class Jewish kid from Queens who rose from local youth soccer leagues to the heights of FIFA, becoming a larger-than-life, jet-setting buccaneer--and the most notorious FBI informant in sports history. For years, Chuck Blazer skimmed over $20 million from FIFA, stashing his money in offshore accounts and real estate holdings that included a luxury apartment in Trump Tower, a South Beach condo, and a hideaway in the Bahamas. Instantly recognizable with his unruly mass of salt-and-pepper hair and matching beard--and a rotating crop of arm candy--Blazer was one of the most flamboyant figures in the glitzy social and political circles of international soccer.
Over the course of thirty years, Blazer leveraged his friendships with the likes of Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton and Nelson Mandela, to increase his influence with the mandarins of global soccer--most notably Sepp Blatter, FIFA's long-time godfather.Once Blatter tapped Blazer to be the first American in almost fifty years to sit on FIFA's executive committee, the erstwhile accountant steadily accumulated money and power--until 2013 when the FBI and IRS nabbed Blazer and charged him with fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion.
In exchange for immunity, Blazer agreed to let the Feds install a microphone in his keychain to entrap his larcenous band of brothers--leading to the shocking arrest and indictment of eighteen FIFA officials for racketeering and bribery.
In this taut and suspenseful tale of white-collar crime and betrayal at the highest levels of international business, investigative reporters Mary Papenfuss and Teri Thompson draw on sources in U.S. law enforcement as well as in Blazer's inner circle to tell the surreal tale of this astonishing character and the scandal that rocked the world.
Inverting The Pyramid
by Jonathan WilsonInverting the Pyramid is a pioneering soccer book that chronicles the evolution of soccer tactics and the lives of the itinerant coaching geniuses who have spread their distinctive styles across the globe.
Through Jonathan Wilson's brilliant historical detective work we learn how the South Americans shrugged off the British colonial order to add their own finesse to the game; how the Europeans harnessed individual technique and built it into a team structure; how the game once featured five forwards up front, while now a lone striker is not uncommon.Inverting the Pyramid provides a definitive understanding of the tactical genius of modern-day Barcelona, for the first time showing how their style of play developed from Dutch "Total Football," which itself was an evolution of the Scottish passing game invented by Queens Park in the 1870s and taken on by Tottenham Hotspur in the 1930s.
Inverting the Pyramid has been called the "Big Daddy" (Zonal Marking) of soccer tactics books; it is essential for any coach, fan, player, or fantasy manager of the beautiful game