Washington Post Book Reviews
For You
Sunday June 27, 2010
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A BEAUTIFUL GAME: The World's Greatest Players and How Soccer Changed Their Lives
Tom Watt
HarperOne
ISBN 978-0061735356
211 pages
$29.99
Reviewed by Sean Callahan
Tom Watt's "A Beautiful Game" features reflections on soccer by England's David Beckham, Argentina's Lionel Messi and other soccer stars. These remembrances are accompanied by striking photos of children playing soccer. (UNICEF receives 5 percent of the book's revenues.) Among the best photographs: a shot of children in India playing the game on a dried mud field, cracked like a jigsaw puzzle. Most of the players' reflections are prosaic. Some, however, offer real emotion: "Until I was ten, I didn't have any (soccer cleats) but then my dad bought me a pair," recalls Mahamadou Diarra of Mali. "I was so happy that I slept cuddling them for the next two days."
Sean Callahan is an editor at Crain Communications and the author of "A is for Ara" and four other children's books.
Copyright 2010 Washington Post Writers Group
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AFRICA UNITED: Soccer, Passion, Politics, and the First World Cup in Africa
Steve Bloomfield
Harper Perennial
ISBN 978-0061984952
299 pages
$14.99
Reviewed by Sean Callahan
"Africa United" delves deeply into African soccer. Steve Bloomfield writes that South Africa's World Cup "is an opportunity to shine a light on the new Africa. The continent that is constantly viewed through the prism of war, poverty and disease will get a chance to present a different face."
In this engaging book, Bloomfield dutifully describes how the Internet, mobile phones and increasing urbanization have boosted Africa's economic power -- a development rarely reported in the West. But some of his stories undercut his thesis, reinforcing the notion that Africa is weighed down with burdens, even if soccer can sometimes lighten the load. For instance, Bloomfield shows how soccer helped speed the reunification of Ivory Coast in 2007, which had split between north and south during a five-year civil war. At the time, soccer star Didier Drogba, who is from the south, eased the reconciliation when he declared that he wanted Ivory Coast to play its upcoming World Cup qualifier in the northern half of the country. "It will be the victory for Ivory Coast soccer, the victory of the Ivory Coast people and, quite simply, there will be peace," Drogba said.
Sean Callahan is an editor at Crain Communications and the author of "A is for Ara" and four other children's books.
Copyright 2010 Washington Post Writers Group
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SOCCER EMPIRE: The World Cup and the Future of France
Laurent Dubois
Univ. of California
ISBN 978-0520259287
329 pages
$27.50
Reviewed by Sean Callahan
In his incisive, if at times overwritten, "Soccer Empire," history professor Laurent Dubois explores how France's self-image and colonial history are intertwined with Les Bleus, the national team. France triumphed in the 1998 World Cup thanks in large part to two goals in the semifinal by Lilian Thuram, who had been born in the French Antilles, and two magnificent headers in the final by Zinedine Zidane, whose parents were Algerian immigrants to France. Many believed that the Cup victory by this integrated team of blacks, whites and Arabs "showed France what it could be: ... a nation that gained strength from its diversity."
Eight years later, when France returned to the World Cup finals, the result was a heartbreaking loss to Italy, exacerbated by Zidane's ejection for head-butting an opponent. The international incident gave renewed voice to Jean-Marie Le Pen and his far-right Front National's disdain for immigration. "Ciao voyou! (Bye-bye, hoodlum!)," read the headline of one far-right publication.
Sean Callahan is an editor at Crain Communications and the author of "A is for Ara" and four other children's books.
Copyright 2010 Washington Post Writers Group
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CHASING THE GAME: America and the Quest for the World Cup
Filip Bondy
Da Capo
ISBN 978-0306816062
312 pages
$26
Reviewed by Sean Callahan
Unlike Les Bleus, the U.S. soccer team doesn't carry the weight of the nation. In fact, it doesn't even have a nickname. But expectations are growing for the American team. In "Chasing the Game," Filip Bondy shows how the U.S. team may be able to make a run -- with a little luck -- deep into the tournament. In the 2009 Confederations Cup, the United States showed flashes of brilliance in defeating Spain, one of the top teams in the world, 2-0 in the semifinal. Then, miraculously, the United States led mighty Brazil by two goals in the final, only to collapse in the second half, losing 3-2. While the score was close, Brazil showed it remained at least a cut above American soccer. "You have no idea what they're going to do until they actually do it," U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard said.
The same can be said of the U.S. team. No one knows whether this squad can make a run to the World Cup quarterfinals as the team did in 2002 or will flame out as it did in 2006. But no matter what happens, it's a safe bet that more Americans than ever will be watching.
Sean Callahan is an editor at Crain Communications and the author of "A is for Ara" and four other children's books.
Copyright 2010 Washington Post Writers Group
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