Customer Reviews

Winning at All Costs: A Scandalous History of Italian Soccer

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's hard to explain how good this book is. When I was searching for a soccer book, I wanted one that was not only stats and the usual stuff, I wanted one that was written in a fun way and had stuff in it that I had never heard off. This book fits the bill. If you like Soccer and want to read about Italy's soccer traditions, scandal, Money, media, World Cup and a lot lot more, this book will be a hit with you. This book is totally amazing! Buy it!

This is the most comprehensive history of Italian football spanning from the very beginnings until today I have seen so far. It incorporates even the 2006 scandals and Worldcup 2006. Excellent read.
In case you are a Tifoso of Italian football this is a must for your library.It rate it even higher than Birgit Schönau: Calcio: Die Italiener und ihr Fußball (The Italiens and their football) written in German.

This book was a very comprehensive description of Italian Soccer. It was a long book but written in a way that it was easy to read, stayed entertaining and flowed well.
My criticism is that it would be nice if the book was not so focused on the dark side of Italian soccer. This is the third book on Italian soccer and they all emphasize the negativity of the game in Italy.
As this book well describes, Italy is a wonderful country and a has beautiful Calcio culture. I would like to see the negative side of the game explained as more of a side note as opposed to the main theme used to describe Italian Soccer.
This being said, Winning at All Costs is probably the most complete book I have ever read on soccer. If you read this book from cover to cover, you will truly understand much about Italian soccer and the game in general.

This looks almost a chapter by chapter re-release of Calcio by the same author. Maybe it's updated and as good as that book was, why the different title?

Not sure what the scoop is with this but it is a five-star read. Only problem is why come out with the same book under a different title? I just don't get that.

Have only just started to read this book and already I am impressed with the way it flows. Cant wait to get to the more recent history facts. Good stuff.

1st, Have AC Milan and Juventus been relegated for match-fixing, in fact, CHEATING? Yes or No friends. Yes, they have, 2 of the 3 biggest teams in Italy and this really sets the tone of this book.

In 2006, Americans stared at their tv screens aghast when the Italian player Rossi elbowed and bloodied our own Brian McBride of the USA team, the thing is, this was not an isolated incident, rewind to 1994 and it is almost the same play as the Italian Tassoti elbowed Luis Enriquez of Spain in the 1994 World Cup held in the USA, Enriquez's nose was broken and blood poured down on his shirt. This was the only way the Italians could win.

In talking about 2 of the top 3 teams in Italian league history, in fact, Brian Glanville uncovered that the 3rd, Inter Milan even bribed to try to win the Champions League in the '60s/'70s era, that brings the number to 3 and one of AC Milan's champions league wins, ho-hum, at least 1 of them were bought in this way but the truth is that Juventus (vs. Derby County, thank goodness Dutch power Ajax defeated them in the final) and Inter also sought these ill-gotten gains. It makes one wonder, how much do we not even know.

It's obviously not quite a level playing field, when we see the Dutch or the Brazilians play beautiful soccer, as the Dutch destroyed Italy 3-0 in the 2008 Euro Cup, but the display of soccer was so great, compare this to how the Italians could only win the 2006 World Cup, diving against Australia and against France, getting one of the best players ever Zidane, sent off. Even more is conjectured upon.

In 1934, the World Cup held in Italy was fixed by the Duce himself. Furthermore, now it is even seen, that trophy is invalid because Italy played ineligible players, players from Argentina, the truth in history shows if this is researched, Argentina in fact, boycotted that tournament.

1938 is open to questions as well, though the case is mainly what some Brazilians say that one of their all-time greats Leônidas was threatened if he played.

UEFA, the European governing body has implemented rules now, where a team such as AC Milan who won the champions league a few years ago, would now have been ineligible if their dealings were in question. Of course, these Italian teams were discovered to be involved in a large gambling scandal known as Calciopoli. Even in the early '80s, AC Milan was relegated as Juventus has been.

1982 did indeed see a triumphant Azzurri win the World Cup and that team rightfully is hailed as one of the better World Cup teams ever. We would still do right to remember, its star player Paolo Rossi was involved in a betting scandal. Though years later he'd claim innocence, can we really accept what is said even? Likewise, we'd do well to remember, West Germany, themselves participants in some low-points of the World Cup in fact, colluded with Austria to draw which saw both of the neighbors advance at the expense of eliminating Algeria who had defeated the West Germans in an all-time World Cup upset. Likewise, the West Germany/France game of 1982 was marred with an unpunished brutal tackle by the West German goalkeeper Schumacher. 2 years later, France won the Euro Cup and one has to wonder if the best teams advanced in some games in the 1982 World Cup.

Even the highly regarded The Miracle of Castel di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy by Joel McGinnis, yes, I think the same person who is trying to move in next to Sarah Palin talks plenty of the common place of corruption in Italian football/soccer. Recommended for further reading.