Soccer Memoir

L'infanzia in via Vetulonia, i primi calci al pallone, la timidezza e la paura del buio, la vita di quartiere in una Roma che forse non esiste più. Gli amici che resteranno gli stessi per tutta la vita. Gli allenamenti a cui la mamma lo accompagnava in 126, asciugandogli i capelli con i bocchettoni in inverno. L'esordio in Serie A a 16 anni in un pomeriggio di marzo del 1993 a Brescia, con i pantaloni della tuta che al momento di entrare in campo si impigliano nei tacchetti; il primo derby, il primo gol, il rischio di essere ceduto alla Sampdoria prima ancora che la sua favola in giallorosso possa cominciare.

In his brilliant new memoir, Pat Nevin takes us on a journey to the less glamorous side of football. From Tranmere to Kilmarnock, he plays some of the best football he's ever played. Then, in an unprecedented twist of fate, finds himself both player and Chief Executive of Scottish First Division club Motherwell.

Sporting Kansas City captain Matt Besler has achieved something extraordinary in the least extraordinary way. At every level of his athletic career, Besler has heard the same questions and initial dismissal of his talent. How does a normal guy like Matt Besler end up playing in the World Cup, one of the most exclusive competitions in international sports? If it’s true that he’s a rather typical Midwestern guy, it’s also true that Matt happens to be one of the best soccer players in the country.

Mi once ideal va más allá de lo biográfico y extrae de los éxitos y las caídas del mismo Oribe los principios por los que este jugador ejemplar se ha guiado dentro y fuera de la cancha. En este libro encontrarás una guía y el conocimiento necesario para avanzar paso a paso para cumplir cualquier sueño que desees alcanzar, sin importar cuántas dificultades surjan en el camino.

'Immaculate footballer. Imperial defender. Immortal hero of 1966. Master of Wembley. Captain extraordinary. Gentleman of all time.’ These are some of the words inscribed beneath the statue of England’s World Cup-winning captain, Bobby Moore, at Wembley stadium. Since Moore’s death, of bowel cancer at just 51, these accolades represent the accepted view of this national treasure. But what do we actually know about Bobby Moore as a person? What about the grit alongside the glory?

Misconceptions have stalked Andrew Cole like a hatchet-man defender determined to cut him down to size. In the world of modern-day football, his reserved demeanour was often interpreted as surly intransigence. Alongside an aptitude for goalscoring, it was widely believed, ran an attitude problem. In Fast Forward, a candid and inspirational autobiography, Cole finally presents his side of the story.

The explosive autobiography from the brilliant and controversial footballer Luis Suarez. Luis Suárez was a young boy already in love with football by the time his family moved from the countryside to Uruguay's capital, Montevideo. The guile and trickery of the street kid made an impact with the country's biggest club, Nacional, before he was spotted by Dutch scouts who brought him to Europe.

On March 21, 2015, Leicester City lost their sixth game in eight matches. Without a victory for two months, they were rock bottom of the English Premier League, heading for certain relegation to the lower division, and about to miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime financial bonanza of TV money and opportunity. As usual, London and Manchester would clean up, the rich would get richer, and the hopes of the small, overlooked, multicultural city would sink. But Leicester started to win. They stayed up; and in the new season they kept on winning.

Random House presents the audiobook edition of The Secret Footballer: What Goes on Tour by The Secret Footballer. Since his first book was published in 2012, The Secret Footballer has been able to take the listener behind the scenes of footballers' lives like no other player has been or will ever be able to do. Anonymity has been a potent weapon in revealing the real world of football stars, and five years on, he has now penned the work that all his fellow professionals have been urging him to do from the start: The Secret Footballer: What Goes on Tour.

Cuando estoy en el campo, sentirme querido me da un impulso impresionante. Pero el odio también me da mucho. Cuando me cabrean, paso a un nivel superior: estoy más atento, más concentrado, más fuerte, más ansioso por demostrar algo. Si me odian, me hacen mejor. Por eso, partidos como los derbis me ponen a mil por hora y me llenan de una rabia especial que me lleva más alto. Pero hoy tengo mucho más control que cuando era joven. También porque los niños me han dado una calma y un ritmo que antes no tenía.

Jürgen Klopp's super-sized personality and all-or-nothing style of football and management made him the perfect choice to pump up the volume at Anfield. The appointment sparked hysteria in the city, with fans and club officials delighted to get the coach they'd long admired from afar and eager to see the impact he would have. With exclusive access to Klopp's friends, family, colleagues and players, Raphael Honigstein goes behind-the-scenes at Liverpool, Mainz and Dortmund to tell the definitive story of Klopp's career.

Meulensteen's story begins in a provincial region of Holland; a student of the game, René explains how he fought through red tape and bureaucracy to establish himself as a coach with principles he firmly believed in, and how those visionary methods saw him land a remarkable position at the world's biggest club, overseeing the technical development of their most precious department—the youth system.

Ooh, ah, Ray Parlour! Nicknamed the Romford Pele for his solid but unglamorous image, Ray Parlour is one of the most well-loved Arsenal players of the last few decades. A loyal club servant for over 14 years (1992-2007), he is revered among the Arsenal faithful for his down-to-earth Essex charm, his mischievous sense of humour and his hardworking performances on the pitch.

Old Trafford, Manchester, 28 maggio 2003. Lo sguardo rivolto più volte verso l'arbitro, rincorsa lunga e gol. Il rigore decisivo contro la Juventus, in una finale di Champions League tutta italiana. Questo è il ricordo indelebile che Andriy Shevchenko, Pallone d'oro nel 2004, ha lasciato nei tifosi del Milan. Già da bambino sentiva che il suo destino sarebbe sta- to quello del calciatore, fin da quel marzo 1986, quando fu selezionato per entrare nei piccoli della Dynamo: il tempo di qualche allenamento poi saltò in aria il reattore numero 4 nella centrale nucleare di Chernobyl.

In My Life in Football Keegan tells the story of his remarkable rise through the sport, from the Peglers Brass Works reserve team in Doncaster to helping Liverpool become the kings of Europe, winning a Bundesliga title with Hamburg and captaining England. Keegan was recognised around the world as one of the sport's genuine superstars and remains the only Englishman to win the Ballon d'Or twice....

After being expelled from school for playing football for his country, fifteen-year-old Liam Brady travelled to London to join Arsenal, and soon became an indispensable part of their glorious 1970s team. Rightly considered one of the Republic of Ireland's best-ever footballers, he went on to enjoy successes with Juventus, Sampdoria and West Ham, as well as managing Celtic and Brighton and Hove, and becoming assistant manager of his national team. Today he is best known for his much-respected TV punditry and searingly intelligent insights into the game he adores.

Who is Erik ten Hag? With an air of unperturbability, he ignores critics, follows his own methods and relentlessly pursues perfection on the pitch. His uncanny ability to analyse and solve problems—the 'process' as Ten Hag calls it—has unfailingly led to breakthrough. There is no magic. There is only intelligence at work, personal devotion to players and near-obsessive attention to detail. Maarten Meijer's definitive biography follows Erik ten Hag, from his upbringing in the Dutch countryside to his domestic triumphs and European victories.

In 2009, Notts County FC were on the brink of bankruptcy when they were taken over by a mysterious company supposedly backed by the Bahraini royal family. The club was promised millions of pounds worth of investment and a list of marquee players, including Sol Campbell and Kasper Schmeichel were signed, in a recruitment drive led by former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, who was appointed to take the club all the way to the Premier League.

Bernard Brogan’s life story is one of the most keenly anticipated Irish sport autobiographies in years. For much of the past decade Bernard Brogan was the headline act of Gaelic football for his remarkable forward play, scoring feats and role in helping transform Dublin from contenders into the most dominant team the sport has ever known. Yet despite reaching the pinnacle of the sport, Brogan has encountered his fair share of setbacks. He suffered two cruciate ligament injuries and only broke onto the Dublin senior team when he was 23.

Joel Selwood’s remarkable leadership is well-known across AFL football. Selwood will not only go down in history as an icon of the game – a record breaker – but also as a selfless leader who supported his team through one of the club’s most successful periods in its history. After Selwood was made captain of the team in 2012, Geelong made the finals in all but one season, playing in seven preliminary finals and two Grand Finals – culminating in Geelong’s tenth premiership in 2022. Now, for the first time, Selwood tells his story in his own words.