While the hype for this Saturday’s USA v. England match may be at a rolling boil, relatively speaking, soccer isn’t exactly in America’s DNA. If you just want to know who’s who in the World Cup, you can always check out the group guides and team profiles over at ESPN, the Guardian, or Bolas and Bandeiras. But what if you want to know what to watch for and what all the excitement is about? Well, you might just have to dig a bit deeper. To that end, we’ve selected a half dozen soccer reads that are perfect companions for the June madness that is upon us.
Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics
If you’re new to soccer, keep scrolling. This is the strong stuff. Inverting the Pyramid is an engrossing look at the evolution of soccer tactics, so it helps to have some familiarity with the basics. But for such a seemingly dry topic, this is an eminently readable book. Wilson charts how soccer evolved from being essentially a brawl in which 5 forwards were the norm and passing was considered unmanly, to the modern game where fielding just one striker is commonplace. Wilson writes “The Question” column over at the Guardian, which is a seedbed of insight that other commentators shamelessly parrot. If you’re curious how Inter Milan managed to hold off Messi and Barcelona or how the US handed Spain its first defeat in 35 games, then this is the book for you.
Comments (8)
“The Barbarian Parade” by Kirby Gann gives a fascinating look at the lives of players in the U.S. trying to make the game work within the obscurity of our larger culture.
[...] Flavorwire also has a list of 6 books to read during the World [...]
“Among the Thugs” Bill Buford. Great account of infiltrating some British soccer hooliganism activity!
How about AFRICA UNITED by Steve Bloomfield? He’s the former African Correspondent for The Independent. He’s written an amazingly research and at times harrowing book about cross-influence of soccer and politics in Africa. For my money it’s the book of the tournament.
no Among the Thugs?
what about John Doyle’s new book “The World Is a Ball: The Joy, Madness and Meaning of Soccer” ?- Torontonians love their footie – whether it’s TFC or the World Cup – this city is soccer mad (mainly in a good way)
http://www.torontolife.com/daily/hype/print-edition/2010/06/10/footie-fanatic-john-doyle-reveals-that-soccer-not-the-tube-is-his-one-true-love/
[...] quasi finiti ma siete ancora in tempo per qualche lettura a tema: non mancano i buoni consigli su flavorpill e The Millions, ma se ancora non vi bastassero New Republic ha aperto un intero blog a tema dove ci [...]
I’m a bit late, but I am suprised that there is no mention of Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch!
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