Soccer!: The Game and the World Cup [Hardcover]

Joseph S. Blatter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1994

Written by the writers and editors of La Gazzetta dello Sport, Europe's leading daily sports newspaper

Forewards by Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA, and Alan Rothenberg, Chairman and CEO, World Cup USA

170 colorplates and 60 black-and-white illustrations from Europe's and America's leading soccer photographers and historic archives

Included in this book:

World Cup USA 1994: How the teams qualified, who are the stars

1994 World Cup Schedule

Today's soccer stars and top international and national teams from around the world

Quotes from soccer's top players: Italy's Roberto Baggio, Holland's Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit, Argentina's Diego Maradona

Preview of Team USA and coach Bora Milutinovic

History of the game, its origins, and its development

A detailed history of the World Cup tournament from 1930 to 1994

Profiles of Pele and Maradona

History of soccer in the U.S.A.

Evolution of the rules of soccer

Full display of development of tactics

Compendium of statistics about the World Cup and international soccer

Overview of soccer around the world today: the fans, African soccer, women's soccer

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

When the remainder tables at your local bookstore are cluttered with the World Cup's literary detrituslong about October would be a good guessthe U.S. publishing industry's shotgun marriage to the game of soccer will be officially over. In the meantime, though, World Cup books just keep coming. This one has a better chance of avoiding the remainder table than most. Though the text does include the mandatory World Cup reviewhighlights of each Cup from 1930 to the presentit's really much more than just a history of the tournament. Liberally and often spectacularly illustrated with 230 illustrations, 170 in color, the book offers a visual and anecdotal history of soccer around the world. Most impressive, though, especially for the recalcitrant American viewer, are the photos, which effectively portray the stunning athleticism of the game's best players (see the cover of this issue). For libraries where one World Cup book is more than enough, here is the one to buy. Bill Ott

Review

"This publication...spares no effect to present our sport in all its glory." --Joseph S. Blatter, General Secretary, Federation Internationale de Football Association

"Planet Football." --Pete Davies, All Played Out, 1990

"There is no mistake about it: the exercise is a passion nowadays and not merely a recreation...It is something else as well as a passion. It is a profession." --The Nineteenth Century, 1892

"The way some people talk about soccer, you'd think the result of one game was a matter of life and death. They don't understand; it is much more than that." --Bill Shankley, former manager, Liverpool Football Club

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (April 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847818063
• ISBN-13: 978-0847818068
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #311,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)