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Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil through Soccer
Futebol Nation The Story of Brazil through Soccer Author:David Goldblatt No nation, not even England, is as closely identified with the game of soccer as Brazil. Its team?s yellow shirts are more globally recognized than any of their other cultural artifacts. Its players and coaches are more renowned than its artists, scientists or even its musicians. — David Goldblatt, author of the bestselling history of global socc... more »er, The Ball Is Round, presents us with a chronicle of Brazil as seen through its obsession with the beautiful game. In Futebol Nation, he traces the history of soccer in Brazil from the first arrival of the sport in 1894, through the recrimination and racism of the 1950 World Cup, through the Lula years and Brazil?s fifth World Cup title in 2002, to the present day.
The impression that most of the world has of Brazilian soccer is that it is a thing of joy, a source of national pride, an arena of invention, a complex and delightful amalgam of sport and art, music and dance. All this is true, but there is another side to the story. The Brazilian team won 2013 Confederations Cup in the midst of the largest wave of social protest the country had ever seen. Thousands of demonstrators came out in hundreds of cities to protest the flagrant waste and corruption of the nation?s soccer authorities in their preparation for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics in Rio.
To write the history of Brazilian soccer, then, is to write the history of Brazil. For over a century soccer has reflected both the benign and the malign in Brazilian society. Brazilian soccer has evolved with the nation's political and social development; become entwined with its cultures of music, dance, religion and magic; and has established Brazil?s place in the international order. As Goldblatt shows, Brazil and Brazilian soccer are not always what they seem.« less
ISBN-13: 9781568584676 ISBN-10: 1568584679 Publication Date: 5/13/2014 Pages:256 Edition:First Trade Paper Ed Rating: