“Writing about football is like dancing to architecture,” one might be inclined to say, slightly paraphrasing Elvis Costello. In other words: it’s tough. The “beautiful game” comes to life in the moment it is experienced, either in the stadium or in front of a screen, alone or with others. And while the seminal games live on in the collective memory of fan communities, cities, regions, and nations, ruthlessly dissected by an army of self-proclaimed pundits who squeeze the last ounces of magic out of football in their data-obsessed post-match analysis, football has always been more about the here and now – because, as we’ve seen so far in this World Cup, anything can happen. So it is not surprising that amidst the flood of football literature there are only a few books, in my eyes, that really capture the beauty of the game. Here are three of them.
Franklin Foer: How Soccer Explains the World. An Unlikely Theory of Globalization.
“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that,” legendary British football manager William "Bill" Shankly once said. Franklin Foer (the editor of The New Republic and brother of author Jonathan Safran Foer) sets out to prove just that. He takes you on a surprising tour through the world of football, shattering the myths of our new global age along the way. From Brazil to Bosnia and from Italy to Iran, How Soccer Explains the World is a moving and eye-opening chronicle of how a beautiful sport and its fanatical followers can illuminate the fault lines of a society, whether poverty, anti-Semitism, or radical Islam. Perhaps the best book about football because it is about much more than just football. Read Mother Jones Magazine’s interview with the author.
David Winner: Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football
In their two first games in South Africa, they were more orange than brilliant, but the “Oranjes,” as the Dutch are called, still embody what is arguably the most modern and sophisticated brand of football: Total Football. Brilliant Orange, written by English journalist David Winner, looks at Dutch football in the wider context of Dutch society and culture. Particularly well-observed: how the Dutch appreciation for football as the “beautiful game” tends to overcome the desire to win.
Simon Kuper & Stefan Szymanski: Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey - and Even Iraq - Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport
Did you know that the country that loves soccer the most is Norway? Or that the one national team that has actually punched a bit above its weight the past 20 years is England? Soccernomics is for the popular-scientific football fan what Freakonomics was for economics geeks. The authors put the game under an analytical microscrope using statistics, economics, and psychology, and debunk some persistent football myths. On one topic though, they remain conservative. Defying the assertion of a power shift in world football, the authors have some clear advice for any national team: “If you want to win, send all your best players to play in Europe and hire all your coaches from Europe.”
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