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.

    The battle he'd face there would make or break the club - or him.David Peace's extraordinarily inventive novel tells the story of a world characterised by fear of failure and hunger for success set in the bleak heart of the 1970s.

    'Calcio' tells the story of Italian football from its origins in the 1890's to the present day. It takes us through a history of great players and teams, of style, passion and success, but also of violence, cynicism, catenaccio tactics and corruption. We meet the personalities that have shaped this history -- from the Italian heroes to the foreigners that failed, the model professionals to the mavericks. 'Calcio' evokes the triumphs (the 1982 World Cup victory) and the tragedies (Meroni, the 'Italian George Best', killed by his number one fan), set against a backdrop of paranoia and intrigue, in a country where the referee is seen as corrupt until proven otherwise. Calcio is no longer a game. It is sometimes difficult to define it as a sport. It is certainly big business and a fanatical civic religion. There is no moral code here. Winners are always right, losers always wrong. This history of Italian football reveals all about the richest and toughest league in the world.

    Anson Dorrance may be the most successful coach ever - in any sport. He has won 18 National Championships, 95 percent of his games, and has coached and mentored some of soccer's greatest stars - Mia Hamm, Christine Lilly, and Cindy Parlow. The Man Watching takes a revealing look into the mind's eye of a motivational genius. How did he create a soccer factory at the University of North Carolina? How does he motivate his teams to achieve greatness? Why has he developed more national-level players than any other coach?

    Jonathan Wilson has traveled extensively behind the old Iron Curtain, viewing life beyond the fall of the Berlin Wall through the lens of soccer. Where once the state-controlled teams of the Eastern bloc passed their way with crisp efficiency—a sort of communist version of total soccer—to considerable success on the European and international stages, today the beautiful game in the East has been opened up to the free market, and throughout the region a sense of chaos pervades. The threat of totalitarian interference no longer remains; but in its place mafia control is generally accompanied with a crippling lack of funds. Jonathan Wilson goes in search of the spirit of Hungary's Golden Squad of the early 1950s; charts the disintegration of the soccer superpower that was the former Yugoslavia; follows a sorry tale of corruption, mismanagement, and Armenian cognac through the Caucasuses; reopens the case of Russia's greatest soccer player, Eduard Streltsov; and talks to Jan Tomaszewski about an autumn night at Wembley in 1973.

    The Complete Book of Soccer provides a comprehensive history of the game, profiles its greatest stars, and includes data on tournaments, along with team histories and statistics galore. Here are some of the features:Informative biographies of over 200 of the greatest players Profiles of more than l00 top contemporary players Stories of the legendary coaches and teams Detailed histories of the World Cup and European championships Origins and evolution of soccer and its rules 500 action photographs. Editor Chris Hunt tells the whole story of all the world's major competitions, including the Champions League, the World Club Cup, the UEFA Cup, the Copa Libertadores, Olympic soccer, the African Nations Cup, the Copa America, the Asian Cup and the Women's World Cup. Any question on international soccer is likely to be answered in this complete reference to the game.

    Respected British sports photographer Levon Biss has traveled the world taking pictures that speak profoundly of people enjoying the immediacy, the emotion, and the fun of the beautiful game. From arresting scenes of jubilant fans scaling walls to celebrate with their idols to evocative images of children playing in quiet back streets, One Love captures the intensity of feeling inspired by soccer at every level. Packed with stunning, moving, and amusing photographs, as well as inspiring quotes from international soccer heroes, One Love is a charming testament to the enduring popularity of soccer around the world. Biss's photography brings together the young and old, amateurs and professionals, backyards and stadiums, reflecting the diversity of soccer's devotees and the common love of the game that unites them. Published with the support of renowned soccer brand Umbro, One Love is the perfect gift for soccer lovers everywhere looking forward to the 2006 World Cup.

    In an attempt to record the sport in its original form--a field, two goals and 22 players--he sought matches at the bottom end of the amateur leagues. He avoided tight telescopic details and the hyperbole of action photography, pulled back from the central subject of the pitch, and set the playing field and its unfolding action in the context of local elements. Over the last 10 years, Van der Meer has continued this project across the playing fields of Europe, traveling to every country with a significant history of the game. The Netherlands yielded 1998's Dutch Fields, and the odyssey that brings forth European Fields has since taken him from Bihariain, Romania to Bj�rk�, Sweden, from Torp, Norway to Alcs*�rs, Hungary, from Bartkowo, Poland to Beire, Portugal, and to urban and suburban Greece, Finland, England, France, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland, Holland, Slovakia, Denmark, Ireland, Wales, Belgium, Spain and Italy. Van der Meer's understated observations of the poetry and absurdity of human behavior on the field use soccer to consider--and provoke a laugh at--the human condition.

    On �15-a-week, Edwards was the most prized of the Busby Babes. Then in February 1958 came Munich.Half a decade later George Best represented United reborn. 'Georgie' of the boutiques and dolly birds; 'El Beatle' of the European Cup in '68 and European Player of the Year; in the opinion of Pele, the most naturally talented footballer that ever lived. Retired at 27 and reduced to the role of Chelsea barfly and tabloid perennial; George, where did it all go wrong?

    In this book, journalist and United fanatic Ged Clarke chronicles the decades of disaster by talking to players, managers, and fans, and finally comes up with an explanation for the 50-year losing streak.

    For example, the referee was biased, the overpaid strikers hopeless, attendance poor, the tea weak and the pies inedible. That, for many fans, is a part of the attraction which football holds for them. Yet every so often, a situation will arise at a club where passive complaint is simply not enough - occasions where big business or individual greed set out to exploit those who walk through the turnstiles, where freedoms are curtailed or where incompetent management is ruining a proud legacy. Against these indignations, there comes a point when it is action and not words that are required. "Rebellion" is about those situations.Using anecdotes and interviews with the people at the heart of the movements, as well as ordinary fans, it examines many of the well-known protests and looks at how and why certain groups of fans succeeded in their particular battle. Just as importantly, it also looks at why other campaigns failed and how, all too often, those protests simply degenerated into ugly violence, hooliganism and intimidation.From the stratosphere of the Premiership to the lowest reaches of the national league, the author examines the greatest outcries of British football and investigates the tense, and at times, violent atmosphere behind each one: a gripping expose of organised dissent and disorganised ruckus.

    Thanks to The David Beckham Academy, aspiring young soccer players now have the opportunity to realize their dreams.This unique book features Beckham sharing his knowledge of the game, his skills developed from playing for the best clubs in the world, his experiences as England's captain, and his life in Madrid—all captured as never before.