Soccer in Sun and Shadow

This is a football book with a difference, written by one of Uruguay’s great authors. Galeano was a fanatical soccer fan and delivers here an outstanding exploration of the game. He achieves this through concise description spread across more than 200 short chapters, covering great players, matches and events. In these little cameos he never leaves the simple beauty of the game, but also leads the reader to think just a little more broadly, to put football as part of life, drawing out human experiences in the way a great no.10 might draw and then open a seemingly sealed defence.Given his origins, the book has an understandable Latin American slant and on occasion there are surely some errors (I don’t think Greaves missed the 1966 World Cup final as a cause of jaundice). In addition, the sometimes clumsy football descriptions suggest translation from the Spanish was not done by someone who knows football. Notwithstanding these small caveats if you are looking for a different way to view football then the book is an outstanding read. Galeano describes himself as a “beggar for good soccer” travelling to stadiums and pleading “A pretty move, for the love of God”. Galeano’s book encourages us to look for what he saw. It is worth the search.

It's poetry and history all in one. It's an easy read, in that no chapter is longer than three pages, and each word is weighted for the maximum effect. The book takes you the reader, from the game as how the English designed it, to how the Brazilians turned it from rote and rules to sheer poetry. I do like the fact that the book doesn't shy away from the shadows of corruption that runs through the game. It's a book that can be savoured in bites, or swallowed in its entirety.

Honestly this a great book I read in spanish but I learning English so I have to read in english too

A very interesting / enjoyable read

very informative. excellent

Funny and well aimed short pieces on every aspect of the game, the players and what else was happening during football's most memorable moments.

This book belongs in that pantheon, alongside the likes of The Sweet Science (Boxing) and Don't Die With The Music In You (Rugby League), of the best sports books ever written. A wonderful, whimsical wander through a history of the beautiful game.

Spine is very damaged on arrival.