Simon Kuper

Stefan Szymanski

A pair of award-winning journalists draw on analogies from a range of disciplines to consider why forefront soccer teams win or lose World Cup competitions, offering insight into the playing styles of leading national teams as well as overall factors that influence how the game is played. Original.

Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey--and Even Iraq--Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World S Most Popular Sport

Soccernomics

With rare and unrivaled access, bestselling coauthor of Soccernomics and longtime Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper tells the story of how FC Barcelona became the most successful club in the world--and how that era is now ending FC Barcelona is not just the world's highest grossing sports club, it is simply one of the most influential organizations on the planet. At last count, it had approximately 214 million social media followers, more than any other sports club except Real Madrid CF--and by one earlier measure, more than all thirty-two NFL teams combined. It has more in common with multinational megacompanies like Netflix or small nation-states than it does with most soccer teams. No wonder its motto is "More than a club." But it was not always so. In the past three decades, Barcelona went from a regional team to a global powerhouse, becoming a model of sustained excellence and beautiful soccer, and a consistent winner of championships. Simon Kuper unravels exactly how this transformation took place, paying special attention to the club's two biggest stars, Johan Cruyff and Lionel Messi, who is arguably the greatest soccer player of all time. Messi joined Barça at age thirteen and, more than anyone, has been the engine and standard-bearer of Barcelona's glory. But his era is coming to an end--and with it, a once-in-a-lifetime golden run. This book charts Barça's rise and fall. Like many world-beating organizations, FC Barcelona closely guards its secrets, granting few outsiders access to the Camp Nou, its legendary home stadium. But after decades of writing about the sport and the club, Kuper was given access to the inner sanctum and the people behind the scenes who strive daily to keep Barcelona at the top. Erudite, personal, and capturing all the latest upheavals, his portrait of this incredible institution goes beyond soccer to understand FC Barcelona as a unique social, cultural, and political phenomenon.

Lionel Messi and the Making--And Unmaking--of the World's Greatest Soccer Club

The Barcelona Complex

'This is a masterfully written history of the world's greatest football club. Més que un book!' - GARY LINEKER From the bestselling co-author of Soccernomics comes the story of how FC Barcelona became the most successful football club in the world - and how that envied position now hangs in the balance. Barça is not just the world's most popular sports club, it is simply one of the most influential organisations on the planet. With almost 250 million followers on social media and 4 million visitors to its Camp Nou stadium each year, there's little wonder its motto is 'More than a club'. But it was not always so. In the past three decades, Barcelona has transformed from regional team to global powerhouse, becoming a model of sporting excellence and a consistent winner of silverware. Simon Kuper unravels exactly how these transformations took place. He outlines the organisational structure behind the club's business decisions, and details the work of its coaches, medics, data analysts and nutritionists who have revolutionised the sporting world. And, of course, he studies the towering influence of the club's two greatest legends, Johan Cruyff and Lionel Messi. Like many leading global businesses, FC Barcelona closely guards its secrets, granting few outsiders a view behind the scenes. But, after decades of writing about the sport and the club, Kuper was given unprecedented access to the inner sanctum and to the people who strive daily to keep Barcelona at the top. Erudite, personal, and capturing all the latest successes and upheavals, his portrait of this incredible institution goes beyond football to understand Barça as a unique social, cultural, and political phenomenon. "I began my research thinking I was going to be explaining Barca's rise to greatness, and I have, but I've also ended up charting the decline and fall."

The inside story of the world's greatest football club

Barça

Oxford Tories

In FOOTBALL AGAINST THE ENEMY Simon Kuper crossed the globe in search of the links between football, politics and culture. In AJAX, THE DUTCH, THE WAR he skilfully pieces together an alternative account of World War II. He looks at the lives of the footballers who played for the Dutch club, the officials and the ordinary fans during this tumultuous period and challenges the accepted notion of the War in occupied Europe. With almost 80 per cent of Amsterdam's Jewish Corner wiped out during the war, the long-held belief that, by and large, half the Dutch population had some kind of link to the Resistance has, of late, come into question. Kuper explores this issue and looks deeper into the role of football across Europe in the years both preceding and following the War. The result is a compelling and controversial account of the War, seen through the lens of football.

Football in Europe During the Second World War

Ajax, the Dutch, the War

How the World's Most Popular Sport Starts and Fuels Revolutions and Keeps Dictators in Power

Soccer Against the Enemy

For fans of John le Carré and Ben Macintyre, an exclusive first-person account of one of the Cold War's most notorious spies "Kuper provides a different and valuable perspective, humane and informative. If the definition of a psychopath is someone who refuses to accept the consequences of his actions, does George fit the definition? There he sits, admitting it was all for nothing, but has no regrets. Or does he?" --John le Carré Few Cold War capers approach the sheer daring and treachery of the spy George Blake. After fighting in the Dutch resistance during World War II, Blake joined the British spy agency MI6 and was stationed in Seoul. Taken prisoner after the North Korean army overran his post in 1950, Blake later returned to England to a hero's welcome, carrying a dark secret: while in a communist prison camp, he had secretly switched sides to the KGB. As a Soviet double agent, Blake betrayed uncounted western spying operations--including the storied Berlin Tunnel, the most expensive covert project ever undertaken by the CIA and MI6. Blake exposed hundreds of western agents, forty of whom were likely executed. After his unmasking and arrest, he received, for that time, the longest sentence in modern British history. Much of Blake's career existed inside the hall of mirrors that was the Cold War, especially following his sensational escape from Wormwood Scrubs prison. Now that the master spy has died, veteran journalist Simon Kuper finally sets the record straight. Kuper tracked Blake to his dacha outside Moscow, where the aging spy agreed to be interviewed for this unprecedented account of Cold War espionage.

The Extraordinary Story of Russian Double Agent George Blake

Spies, Lies, and Exile

At last, football has its answer to Freakonomics, The Tipping Point and The Undercover Economist.

Futbol Asla Sadece Futbol Değildir

In his national bestseller, Soccernomics, Simon Kuper pioneered a new way of looking at soccer, the world’s most popular game, through his witty and meticulous use of data. In Soccer Men, Kuper explores the heart and soul of the sport by getting up close and personal with soccer’s greatest players and coaches. An inquiry into the genius and hubris of the modern game, Soccer Men details the lives of international stars such as Arsène Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Josep Guardiola, Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, and David Beckham, describing their upbringings, the soccer cultures they grew up in, the way they play or coach, and the baggage they bring to their relationships at work. In this updated edition, Kuper profiles Hope Solo, Raymond Domenech, Andrea Agnelli, Robin van Persie, Carlo Ancelotti, and more. He also provides a brilliant comparison of two tales of immigrant life: Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint and the autobiography of Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Profiles of the Rogues, Geniuses, and Neurotics Who Dominate the World's Most Popular Sport

Soccer Men

Over de geschiedenis van de Spaanse voetbalclub FC Barcelona, met name over de periode 1973-2021.

het imperium : Cruijff, Messi en de onzekere toekomst van de grootste voetbalclub ter wereld

FC Barcelona

Football Against the Enemy

Perfect Pitch

A 'humane and informative' (according to John Le Carre) biography of George Blake, the most notorious double agent in British history. The Happy Traitor is the work of many years' writing, research and unparalleled access, but was embargoed until Blake's death in Moscow in December 2020.

Spies, Lies and Exile in Russia: the Extraordinary Story of George Blake

The Happy Traitor

The great footballers and coaches are rarely glimpsed from up close. They shield themselves from the tabloids, hide their personalities behind professionalism, and in the words of the cliché, 'do their talking on the pitch'. This book gets up close to them. The Football Men is not a series of celebrity profiles, and it doesn't attempt to unearth secrets in the players' private lives. Rather, it portrays these men as three-dimensional human beings. It describes their upbringings, the football cultures they grew up in, the way they play, and the baggage that they bring to their relationships at work. This multimillion-pound, multinational world is mostly inhabited by ordinary men. The profiles in this book are sometimes funny, but never breathless or sensational. Some of the profiles in this book are based on interviews; others are the results of time the author spent with that person; sometimes the profile is a story of a country. All are fascinating and shed light on their subject to reveal things you wouldn't expect. From one of the great sports writers of our time this is a penetrating and surprising collection of articles on the figures that have defined the modern sporting world.

Up Close with the Giants of the Modern Game

The Football Men

Ajax, la squadra del ghetto. Il calcio e la Shoah

Considerato uno dei testi classici del “new football writing”, Calcio e potere è il racconto in prima persona di un giovane giornalista inglese in giro per il pianeta, alla ricerca dei legami tra lo sport più bello del mondo e la politica: come il calcio ha alimentato rivoluzioni e come ha mantenuto dittatori al potere. Un’indagine sociologica, un’analisi storica e un racconto ricco di humour, attraverso 22 Paesi e le testimonianze di calciatori, politici e semplici tifosi, dal Mondiale argentino di Videla del ‘78 ai rancori tra l’Olanda di Gullit e la Germania di Matthäus nell’88, dalla Lazio di Gascoigne al Camerun di Roger Milla. Questa edizione è arricchita da nuovi capitoli sull’Italia (uso del Milan e nascita di Forza Italia) e sugli intrecci tra pallone e terrorismo islamico. Il risultato è un libro fondamentale per capire il calcio e il suo posto nel mondo

Simon Kuper

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