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
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.