Fever Pitch
Fever Pitch

Author: Nick Hornby

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2005-05-05

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 0141926546

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*WINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR* Fever Pitch is Nick Hornby's million-copy-selling, award-winnning football classic 'A spanking 7-0 away win of a football book. . . inventive, honest, funny, heroic, charming' Independent For many people watching football is mere entertainment, to some it's more like a ritual; but to others, its highs and lows provide a narrative to life itself. But, for Nick Hornby, his devotion to the game has provided one of few constants in a life where the meaningful things - like growing up, leaving home and forming relationships, both parental and romantic - have rarely been as simple or as uncomplicated as his love for Arsenal. Brimming with wit and honesty, Fever Pitch, catches perfectly what it really means to be a football fan - and in doing so, what it means to be a man. 'Hornby has put his finger on truths that have been unspoken for generations' Irish Times 'Funny, wise and true' Roddy Doyle

Soccer in a Football World
Soccer in a Football World

Author: David Wangerin

Publisher: Temple University Press

Published: 2008-03-15

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 1592138853

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David Beckham’s arrival in Los Angeles represents the latest attempt to jump-start soccer in the United States where, David Wangerin says, it “remains a minority sport.” With the rest of the globe so resolutely attached to the game, why is soccer still mostly dismissed by Americans? Calling himself “a soccer fan born in the wrong country at nearly the wrong time,” Wangerin writes with wit and passion about the sport’s struggle for acceptance in Soccer in a Football World. A Wisconsin native, he traces the fragile history of the game from its early capitulation to gridiron on college campuses to the United States’ impressive performance at the 2002 World Cup. Placing soccer in the context of American sport in general, he chronicles its enduring struggle alongside the country’s more familiar pursuits and recounts the shifting attitudes toward the “foreign” game. His story is one that will enrich the perspective of anyone whose heart beats for the sport, and is curious as to where the game has been in America—and where it might be headed.

From Football to Soccer
From Football to Soccer

Author: Brian D. Bunk

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2021-08-24

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 0252052781

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Rediscovering soccer's long history in the U.S. Across North America, native peoples and colonists alike played a variety of kicking games long before soccer's emergence in the late 1800s. Brian D. Bunk examines the development and social impact of these sports through the rise of professional soccer after World War I. As he shows, the various games called football gave women an outlet as athletes and encouraged men to form social bonds based on educational experience, occupation, ethnic identity, or military service. Football also followed young people to college as higher education expanded in the nineteenth century. University play, along with the arrival of immigrants from the British Isles, helped spark the creation of organized soccer in the United States—and the beautiful game's transformation into a truly international sport. A multilayered look at one game’s place in American life, From Football to Soccer refutes the notion of the U.S. as a land outside of football history.

Soccer Vs. the State
Soccer Vs. the State

Author: Gabriel Kuhn

Publisher: Pm Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9781604860535

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From its working-class roots to commercialisation and resistance to it - this is football history for the politically conscious fan. Football is a multi-billion pound industry. Professionalism and commercialisation dominate its global image. Yet the game retains a rebellious side, maybe more so than any other sport co-opted by money-makers and corrupt politicians. Soccer vs. The State traces its amazing history.

The Age of Football: Soccer and the 21st Century
The Age of Football: Soccer and the 21st Century

Author: David Goldblatt

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2020-02-18

Total Pages: 685

ISBN-13: 0393635120

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A monumental exploration of soccer and society in our time—by its preeminent historian. The Age of Football proves that whether you call it football or soccer, you can’t make sense of the modern world without understanding its most popular sport. With breathtaking scope and an unparalleled knowledge of the game, David Goldblatt—author of the best-selling The Ball Is Round—charts soccer’s global cultural ascent, economic transformation, and deep politicization.

What We Think About When We Think About Soccer
What We Think About When We Think About Soccer

Author: Simon Critchley

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017-10-31

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 0525504605

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You 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.

Soccer Diplomacy
Soccer Diplomacy

Author: Heather L. Dichter

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2020-08-03

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0813179548

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Although the game of soccer is known by many names around the world—football, fútbol, Fußball, voetbal—the sport is a universal language. Throughout the past century, governments have used soccer to further their diplomatic aims through a range of actions including boycotts, carefully orchestrated displays at matches, and more. In turn, soccer organizations have leveraged their power over membership and tournament decisions to play a role in international relations. In Soccer Diplomacy, an international group of experts analyzes the relationship between soccer and diplomacy. Together, they investigate topics such as the use of soccer as a tool of nation-state–based diplomacy, soccer as a non-state actor, and the relationship between soccer and diplomatic actors in subnational, national, and transnational contexts. They also examine the sport as a conduit for representation, communication, and negotiation. Drawing on a wealth of historical examples, the contributors demonstrate that governments must frequently address soccer as part of their diplomatic affairs. They argue that this single sport—more than the Olympics, other regional multisport competitions, or even any other sport—reveals much about international relations, how states attempt to influence foreign views, and regional power dynamics.

Soccer Tough
Soccer Tough

Author: Dan Abrahams

Publisher: Bennion Kearny Limited

Published: 2012-08

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9780957051195

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Soccer Tough demystifies mental toughness and football psychology and offers practical techniques that will enable soccer players of all abilities to actively develop focus, energy, and confidence. Soccer Tough will help banish the fear, mistakes, and mental limits that holds players back.

Total Football - A graphic history of the world’s most iconic soccer tactics
Total Football - A graphic history of the world’s most iconic soccer tactics

Author: Sanjeev Shetty

Publisher: Aurum

Published: 2018-06-07

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 1781318220

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You've never seen football formations and tactic explored like they are in Total Football ever before. A must-have for football experts! A goalkeeper, two defenders and eight attackers – it’s no surprise that in the 1950s under this popular formation scores like 9-3 were common. So what changed? Total Football tells the evolution of football tactics: from the birth of Total Football in the Netherlands to the dominance of tiki taka in Spain and Brazil, each chapter explores an iconic tactic. Innovative graphics alongside expert text guide you through the manager decisions that developed new formations, the pure talent of players that defined each playing style and the matches that propelled the winning tactic to legendary status. Sanjeev Shetty explores how each tactic works, how they came to dominate and how opponents worked to find a way to beat them. From Pele to Messi, Cruyff to Mourinho, Total Football explores the tactics that made the legends, giving you a new understanding of how the beautiful game is played.

The Country of Football
The Country of Football

Author: Roger Kittleson

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2014-06-12

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 0520279085

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"In time for Brazil's hosting of the 2014 World Cup, this book uses the stories of star players and other key figures (based on over 40 interviews) to create a contemporary history of Brazilian soccer from the 1950s to the present. It also explores race and class tensions in Brazil and shows how soccer is central to the country's dramatic trajectory toward modernity and economic power"--