- Paperback: 290 pages
- Publisher: Random House Inc (P) (May 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679774939
- ISBN-13: 978-0679774938
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13.2 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
306,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Football > Competitions > World Cup
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Pete Davies' book entertainingly covers the world of soccer in a witty, new-journalism style of writing. From the inside story of a Welsh 3rd Division club stuggling for promotion to the details of a great USA upset win over England in 1993, to the World Cup itself, Davies offers a rich and vivid look at the details and passion that make up the world's most popular sport. Great for beginners to become educated about the game, and where soccer is going in the United States. The book takes you to soccer at every level: From the groundskeeper to the manager to each players' unique perspective on what happens over the course of a match or an entire career. A very entertaining read. A great chapter on US National Team goalkeeper Kasey Keller's starting out in England at Milwall, a club in London with some of the toughest fans in Britain. You will learn a great deal about the sport of soccer, even if you fancy yourself an expert.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is about three things: 1) The author's favorite team, 3rd division Wrexham, struggling to gain promotion, 2) Breif but insightful descriptions of every world cup up to Italia 90 3) Descriptions of the positions and jobs of all the players on the pitch.
Even if you think you know it all, read this book anyway. It will make you laugh and I guarantee that you will learn something new and interesting.
Enjoy!
Even if you think you know it all, read this book anyway. It will make you laugh and I guarantee that you will learn something new and interesting.
Enjoy!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As coach of my son's youth soccer team, I went looking for
a book to introduce our parents to the rules, history and
color of the world game. I found what I was looking for in this slim volume. Pete Davies' book is ostensibly
about USA '94, America's hosting of the 1994 World Cup
Tournament. It is much more than that, and it is a terrific
read for soccer novices, soccer romantics, and hard-core fans.
Davies is a Welshman and a die-hard fan of Wrexham, a Third
Division team in the English League, struggling to gain
promotion to the higher division. Davies intersperses a
season-long odyssey of watching soccer among 5,000 loyal
fans in a decrepit stadium where fans have to wait in line
for 15 minutes to get the world's worst coffee and "deathburgers,"
which he says are made from "ears and nostrils." The reader
gets a real sensory appreciation of what it means to be in
love with a club, to live and die with their weekly ups and
downs.
Davies teaches the readers the rules of the game in a very
casual way, but he is 100% accurate and insightful. He also covers all the major positions on the field.
He describes the so-called formations used in the modern
game, and then tells us that it is all meaningless once the
top world teams get into the whirl of a real match. Soccer
style, he says, reflects who you are. As he covers the
build-up to USA 1994, he covers all the major teams. Italy
are artists, but also subject to bouts of psychological
darkness and fraternal bickering. Brazil are the sun-drenched
sorcerers, magicians with the ball, who elevate the world
game to its highest levels. The English are "cavemen with
hairy arses," he says both with admiration and regret.
An English League match is like watching 22 men on amphetimine.
Bodies rush and hurl about, with collisions leaving casualties
in their wake. A high work rate is prized. Unfortunately,
he says, the artists of the world game have left the English
game behind. The organization of English soccer,he says, is
run by "idiots." In a short, easy-to-read volume, Davies
really gives a great overview of the game in different parts
of the world.
He sounds a warning about the future of American soccer. The
American character likes big corporate, para-military style
organization. USA 1994 is awash in logos and rampant
commercialism. Although the sandwiches served at USA 1994 are
infinitely better than the "deathburgers" served at Wrexham,
the common fan is the heart of the game in England, not
the corporate sponsor. It is a point that we should not
forget as our game in America grows.
My favorite sports books are written by passionate writers
who have a sharp eye for the game, but more importantly, a
real affection for their games and subjects. I would put
in this category Roger Kahn's "The Boys of Summer," David
Faulkner's book on Sadaharu Oh, and now Pete Davies, with
"Twenty-Two Foreigners In Funny Shorts." Highly Recommended
a book to introduce our parents to the rules, history and
color of the world game. I found what I was looking for in this slim volume. Pete Davies' book is ostensibly
about USA '94, America's hosting of the 1994 World Cup
Tournament. It is much more than that, and it is a terrific
read for soccer novices, soccer romantics, and hard-core fans.
Davies is a Welshman and a die-hard fan of Wrexham, a Third
Division team in the English League, struggling to gain
promotion to the higher division. Davies intersperses a
season-long odyssey of watching soccer among 5,000 loyal
fans in a decrepit stadium where fans have to wait in line
for 15 minutes to get the world's worst coffee and "deathburgers,"
which he says are made from "ears and nostrils." The reader
gets a real sensory appreciation of what it means to be in
love with a club, to live and die with their weekly ups and
downs.
Davies teaches the readers the rules of the game in a very
casual way, but he is 100% accurate and insightful. He also covers all the major positions on the field.
He describes the so-called formations used in the modern
game, and then tells us that it is all meaningless once the
top world teams get into the whirl of a real match. Soccer
style, he says, reflects who you are. As he covers the
build-up to USA 1994, he covers all the major teams. Italy
are artists, but also subject to bouts of psychological
darkness and fraternal bickering. Brazil are the sun-drenched
sorcerers, magicians with the ball, who elevate the world
game to its highest levels. The English are "cavemen with
hairy arses," he says both with admiration and regret.
An English League match is like watching 22 men on amphetimine.
Bodies rush and hurl about, with collisions leaving casualties
in their wake. A high work rate is prized. Unfortunately,
he says, the artists of the world game have left the English
game behind. The organization of English soccer,he says, is
run by "idiots." In a short, easy-to-read volume, Davies
really gives a great overview of the game in different parts
of the world.
He sounds a warning about the future of American soccer. The
American character likes big corporate, para-military style
organization. USA 1994 is awash in logos and rampant
commercialism. Although the sandwiches served at USA 1994 are
infinitely better than the "deathburgers" served at Wrexham,
the common fan is the heart of the game in England, not
the corporate sponsor. It is a point that we should not
forget as our game in America grows.
My favorite sports books are written by passionate writers
who have a sharp eye for the game, but more importantly, a
real affection for their games and subjects. I would put
in this category Roger Kahn's "The Boys of Summer," David
Faulkner's book on Sadaharu Oh, and now Pete Davies, with
"Twenty-Two Foreigners In Funny Shorts." Highly Recommended
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