The Champions League is dead. Long live the Champions League! When Nigerian striker Daniel Amokachi scored for Club Brugge in November 1992, he ignited not just a match but a revolution—the birth of European football's new commercial era. Belgian coach Raymond Goethals promptly led Olympique Marseille to claim the inaugural title. From these origins emerged the world's premier football league. Broadcast rights now command astronomical sums across continents, shifting football's epicentre f...

An absolutely essential book for every modern football fan, about the development of Premier League tactics, published to coincide with 25 years of the competition.Back in 1992, English football was stuck in the dark ages, emerging from a five-year ban from European competition. The game was physical, bruising and attritional, based on strength over speed, aggression over finesse. It was the era of the midfield general, reducers, big men up front and getting it in the mixer; 4-4-2 ...

This is a stimulating and deeply insightful football narrative by Rafa Benitez which focuses on the legendary manager's dramatic six Champions League campaigns with Liverpool. Rafa expertly navigates fans through intriguing European adventures that embrace the triumph and despair of two Champions League finals, three semi-finals and five quarter-finals in what was a golden era for the Anfield club - an era that supporters felt gave them their pride back after years in the wilderness. What ...

Mourinho is a beautiful illustrated book which is both a sumptuous celebration of The Special One's managerial career so far, and an enigmatic insight into his unique brand of football wisdom and philosophy.In the legendary manager's very first book, and in his own images and captions, Jose Mourinho charts the peaks and troughs of the opening fifteen years of what has been a stellar rise to the summit of the global game.Through more than 120 personally selected ima...

Marcelo Bielsa is one of football's greatest eccentrics and greatest enigmas. This will be the first English biography of one of football's most contradictory characters.He has coached some of the greatest names in world football - Gabriel Batistuta, Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano, Juan Sebastian Veron and Ander Herrera. He has been cited as a mentor by Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino and Diego Simeone.Yet Marcelo Bielsa remains one of the great enigmas...

Zinedine ZidaneZidane (name)Real Madrid C.F.Juventus F.C.UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll1998 FIFA World CupUEFA Champions LeagueFIFA World Player of the YearFIFA World Cup awardsAS CannesFrance national under-17 football teamFrance national under-18 football teamFrance national under-21 football teamFrance national football team

Strength, speed and dedication: Cristiano Ronaldo is known throughout the world as a colossus of the modern game.But did you know that he underwent laser heart surgery aged just fifteen to enable him to continue playing the game he loved?Or that Nacional, his first professional club, donated twenty balls and two sets of kits to his youth team in order to sign him?Or how he came to be known as abelhinha -'little bee'- a name he would later pass on to...

Football School Epic Heroes is part of the bestselling Football School series, which teaches you about the world through football, packed with superstar stories, fun facts and laugh-out-loud illustrations. Perfect for readers 7+ and recommended by the National Literacy Trust, BookTrust, the Premier League and parents and teachersCelebrate the greatest names and teams in football history with this collection of 50 true stories.Discover the g...

A celebration of the beautiful game and its 100 greatest players, from the pre–World War II exploits of Dixie Dean to the modern-day genius of Kylian Mbappé and Lionel MessiThese players left legacies, redefined the game with trademark skills, and grew into national icons. They have their stats—the goals, the wins, the trophies—but, more importantly, they have their stories.One World Cup winner owned a nightclub that briefly transformed a corner of industri...

The game of soccer is constantly in flux; new ideas, philosophies and tactics mould the present and shape the future.Since the turn of the century we have witnessed dramatic changes in the beautiful game: new types of player, new coaching methods and tactical innovations have all enhanced and changed the sport of football. The technical, tactical, physical and psychological skills needs of the modern player - from the goalkeeper to centre forward - have all been enhanced. In a nuts...

The gripping biography of one of the most successful managers in the game, José Mourinho, giving a rare insight into Mourinho the man as well as Mourinho the manager.José Mourinho is undoubtedly one of the most charismatic and controversial characters in football today. Never far away from the headlines, it is the drama surrounding him as much as his many successes that make him such a fascinating figure.Having worked at some of the biggest clubs in the wor...

**An opinionated masterclass in the art and science of “reading” a match from one of professional soccer’s most respected and beloved international figures."For Americans new to European soccer, terms like 'false striker,' 'double accordion' or 'moving trios' need Mr. Gullit’s expert explications." —Wall Street Journal**Ruud Gullit knows better than anyone else that to understand soccer you have to understand strategy. When he started playing soccer, his only “strategy” was...