Golazo!: The Beautiful Game from the Aztecs to the World Cup: The Complete History of How Soccer Shaped Latin America - Softcover

Campomar, Andreas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1594485860 ISBN 13: 9781594485862

Publisher: Riverhead Books, 2014

Synopsis

The definitive book about the national identities, heroes, and dramatic stories from Latin American soccer throughout history, perfect for World Cup reading.

“Golazo!” means “amazing goal!” And the word  perfectly captures the unique, exuberant, all-encompassing, passionate role that soccer plays in Latin America.

Andreas Campomar offers readers the definitive history of Latin American soccer from the early, deadly Mesoamerican ballgames to the multi-billion dollar international business it is today. Golazo! explores the intersection of soccer, politics, economics, high and low culture, and how passion for a game captured a continent.

The triumphs, the heartbreaks, the origins and the future, the political and the personal—Golazo! is the perfect book for new fans and diehard followers around the world.

About this title

About the Author

Andreas Campomar was educated at Cambridge University, where he studied Modern History. He is currently Publishing Director at Constable & Robinson in the United Kingdom. He reviews for The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Times Literary Supplement, and many others. He is the son of a Uruguayan diplomat and a descendant of Dr. Enrique Buero, the man who brought the first World Cup in Montevideo and later became vice president of FIFA. He lives in London.

Reviews

Taking the very long view of South American soccer, Campomar, a Uruguayan living in England, begins with the brutal ball games of the Aztecs, then disputes the commonly held notion that the British game first took hold on the docks (its origins were more clubby than that). He details the twentieth century, decade by decade, with its periods of Uruguayan, Argentine, and Brazilian dominance, and an uneasy playing relationship with Europe. The real strength of this comprehensive and well-sourced document is its engaging writing style, which impels the reader through the sometimes dense array of names, places, and dramatic games. Soccer is central but merely one part: Golazo! is packed with fascinating detail about the game’s interplay with national identity, politics, race, and culture. The author doesn’t neglect the four previous South American World Cups—and why would he? His country won the very first one, in 1930. --Keir Graff

Edition details

• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1594485860
• ISBN 13: 9781594485862
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496