soccer

I couldn't put the book down, being South American, much English language books are so heavily biased towards european teams and matches. Nothing against them, I love them as well, and who deosn't love a great game anywhere? But it was nice to read about the formation of modern soccer in England done the way only Galeano could. Followed by the entry of soccer in Buenos Aires and Galeano's soccer world from his childhood days in Uruguay.

I guess this defines me well but if I had to take a book to the beach for pleasure reading this would be it, why?

The prose, the language, this is THE guy who you'd want to do match-report, if you were the 'man-of-the-match' in the most important game of your life, why?

Galeano's word choice is like poetry, that only comes when one makes the sweetest kick ever. It definalty is as a magazine reviewer put it, 'like Pele in a field of second-stringers'.

This is a thoughtful little soccer history reader by a well-known Uruguayan poet and writer. It's written in tiny little topical chunks covering the history of soccer in roughly chronological order. Starting with the pre-history of soccer it unravels leisurely until at the end there is a small denunciation of the big money interests that have corrupted the game which has a grip on the imaginations of little boys (and now girls) around the world. Scattered throughout are lyrical testimonials to individual performers and goals throughout history. As I read, I kept wishing for an accompanying DVD to show these magical goals, but upon reflection, I realized that what Galeano can paint as magic with words might well fade into banality when subjected to the freeze frame. Even though a lot of the players and matches mentioned will mean little to North American soccer fans, the book is still essential reading for its ability to impart the mystical grip the sport has on much of the globe.

This is candy for the soccer enthusiast. Very few public figures tackle the question of sponsorship...what Galeano considers the "selling out" of soccer. He makes a strong case, especially in his extended condemnation of the oligarchic structure of FIFA. The questions he raises remain unanswered, however, considering that all sports are "consumed" and otherwise would have no way of paying for themselves. The least appealing part of this book is the fact that Galeano (a Uruguayan) focuses exclusively on South American soccer. I do not dispute that most Europeans and North Americans could profit from learning more about the soccer in this region. However, the nature of this book is that of a history of anecdotes, and there are plenty of those to be had in the European theatre that the author ignores. This book should have been titled "The Anecdotal History of Soccer in South America".