Search results for ""author andrew downie""

Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Football Book of the Year 2022 One of the Financial Times Top 5 Best Sports Books of the Year The 1970 World Cup is widely regarded as the greatest ever staged, with more goals per game than any World Cup since. But more than just the proliferation of goals was the quality of the overall football, as some of the finest teams ever to represent the likes of West Germany, Peru, Italy and England came together for a tilt at the world title. But at the heart of the tournament were Brazil; captained by Carlos Alberto and featuring legends like Pelé, Gérson, Jairzinho, Rivellino and Tostão, the 1970 Seleção are often cited as the greatest-ever World Cup team. Using brand new interviews alongside painstaking archival research, Andrew Downie charts each stage of the tournament, from the preparations to the final, telling a host of remarkable stories in the players’ own words. The result is an immediate, insightful and compelling narrative that paints a unique portrait of an extraordinary few weeks when football hit peaks it has seldom reached since. This is Mexico 1970. Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth.

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'Compelling from start to finish...Downie does full justice to an extraordinary life' Pete Davies, author of All Played Out. A stunning new biography of Socrates, the iconic captain of the greatest Brazil side never to win the World Cup. Socrates was always special. A hugely talented athlete who graduated in medicine yet drank and smoked to excess. The attacking midfielder stood out - and not just because of his 6'4" frame. Fans were enthralled by his inch-perfect passes, his coolness in front of goal and his back heel, the trademark move that singled him out as the most unique footballer of his generation. Off the pitch, he was just as original, with a dedication to politics and social causes that no player has ever emulated. His biggest impact came as leader of Corinthians Democracy - a movement that gave everyone from the kitman to the president an equal say in the running of the club. At a time when Brazil was ruled by a military dictatorship, it was truly revolutionary. Passionate and principled, entertaining and erudite, Socrates was as contradictory as he was complex. He was a socialist who voted for a return of Brazil's monarchy, a fiercely independent individual who was the ultimate team player, and a romantic who married four times and fathered six children. Armed with Socrates' unpublished memoir and hours of newly discovered interviews, Andrew Downie has put together the most comprehensive and compelling account of this iconic figure. Based on conversations with family members, close friends and former team-mates, this is a brilliant biography of a man who always stood up for what he believed in, whatever the cost. 'Brilliantly written and researched. Amazing life.' Alex Bellos, author of Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life

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