The Buzz...About Books

The FIFA World Cup runs between June 12-July 13, 2014. The international men's soccer tournament is held every four years. This year, the 20th time the World Cup has taken place, thirty-two countries are sending teams to compete. Canada has only participated once, in 1986 but there are lots of countries to support and it's easy to get caught up in the excitement.

Whether you call it football or soccer, there is a wealth of great reading about the sport. Here are a few suggestions.

A Beautiful Game: the World's Greatest Players and How Soccer Changed Their Lives by Tom Watt
International soccer players describe their experience with the game during childhood. Numerous players interviewed will be playing at the World Cup including The Netherlands' Robin Van Persie, Ghana's Sulley Muntari, Georgios Samaras from Greece, and Belgian team captain, Vincent Kompany.

The Big Fix: the Hunt for the Match-Fixers Bringing Down Soccer by Brett Forrest
• eBook
In 2013, Europol revealed that more than 700 international soccer matches have been fixed since 2008. Journalist Forrest looks at the history of match-fixing, exposes the international crime syndicates behind the practice, and the efforts to clean up the beautiful game.

Eight World Cups: My Journey through the Beauty and the Dark Side of Soccer by George Vecsey
New York Times reporter Vecsey eloquently describes his own experience reporting on the World Cup but more importantly, about his life as a soccer fan.

The Mammoth Book of the World Cup by Nick Holt
Learn all about the World Cup from its origin to the present.

Messi by Guillem Balagué
Lionel Messi
Often considered one of the best players in the world, Lionel Messi will be leading the Argentinian team at the 2014 World Cup.

The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know about Soccer is Wrong by Chris Anderson and David Sally
• eBook
A goalkeeper-turned statistician and a behavioral analyst team up to determine exactly what factors lead to victory and it's not always obvious.

La Roja: How Soccer Conquered Spain and Spanish Soccer Conquered the World by Jimmy Burns
• eBook
Spain is one of the favourites to win the tournament. This 2012 book explains why the Spanish team became a powerhouse.

Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano
• eBook
The New York Times calls this book "a winning celebration of the beautiful game" with political context, poetic descriptions and commentary. Named one of the Top 100 Sports Books of All Time by Sports Illustrated.

Soccer Men: Profiles of the Rogues, Geniuses, and Neurotics who Dominate the World's Most Popular Sport by Simon Kuper
Kuper, the author of Soccernomics, profiles some of the world's best players.

Why Soccer Matters by Pelé with Brian Winter
• eBook
Not only a legendary player, Pelé is also the official ambassador for the 2014 World Cup. In this biography he tells his story and shares his hope that soccer can become a transformative force for struggling communities.

Beginning on June 28, Toronto Reference Library will be showing some of the matches in the Atrium.

Related post:

• The Beautiful Game