A History Of The World Cup (1930-2018)

By (author) Lisi, Clemente A.
Short description/annotation
This book chronicles the World Cup from its origins in 1930 to the present day. It features highlights from each tournament, photos, player profiles, statistics, and World Cup records. This new edition includes coverage of the FIFA corruption scandal, the use of video technology, a profile of 2018 Golden Ball winner Luka Modric, and much more.
Description
There is no sporting event more popular than the World Cup. For one month every four years, billions of people around the world turn their attention to the tournament. Fans call in sick to work, pack into bars to watch games, or stay home for days at a time glued to their TV sets. In A History of the World Cup: 1930-2018, Clemente A. Lisi chronicles this international phenomenon, providing vivid accounts of individual games from the tournament''s origins in 1930 to modern times. In addition, the book features statistics for each competition, photos, and profiles of the most memorable—and controversial—figures of the sport, including Diego Maradona, Juste Fontaine, Franz Beckenbauer, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Miroslave Klose, and Pelé. This new edition includes coverage of the FIFA corruption scandal, the use of video technology, a profile of 2018 Golden Ball winner Luka Modric, revised statistical information, and memorable moments from the 2018 tournament. Comprehensive yet highly readable, A History of the World Cup is a wonderful book for fans of the beautiful game.
Biographical note
Clemente A. Lisi has worked as a journalist and editor for more than two decades. In that time, he has been an editor at major metropolitan dailies such as the New York Post and the New York Daily News and served as senior editor at ABCNews.com. He is the author of The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team: An American Success Story (2013), A History of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (2017), and the previous editions of A History of the World Cup. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Review quote: previous edition
Lisi’s updated edition on soccer’s most important competition is very similar to his earlier volumes in structure, content, and features. He again does an effective job of capturing the excitement of the world’s most popular sporting event by providing vivid accounts of individual games and crucial plays, along with profiles of its most accomplished athletes and their feats. Photographs enhance the fast-paced text, and a glossary of terms makes a wonderful primer for the novice and occasional fan. . . .[In addition], the two appendixes of World Cup statistics and records are almost 60 pages long. They catalog the scores of every game from the tournament’s history beginning in 1930 through the most current cup competition in 2014. . . .Lisi writes extensively on that event making this title a solid option even for those libraries that already own the earlier editions. Verdict: Readers and researchers of soccer literature will value the updated chapter and statistics on the 2014 World Cup found in this new edition.
Review quote: previous edition
This is an update of two previous editions, the first by the same author, with a new chapter on the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and revised statistics. Like the previous editions, this is a narrative history and not an encyclopedia with subject-oriented entries. There have been 20 World Cup tournaments so far, and Lisi covers them chronologically in ten chapters, with each of the last three events meriting its own chapter. The author describes the process leading to the choice of each host venue and highlights memorable and important events. He also includes a glossary that defines terms and about 50 pages of World Cup records and statistics. This volume can be read cover-to-cover or dipped into to gain insight on any particular World Cup, player, coach, administrator, or country. However it is used, it is a handy a