Top Ten Lists - Soccer Books and Movies (Oxymoron project)

As part of the ongoing Oxymoron Project I am continuing to compile various lists and post them here.

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10 Soccer Books To Read

The Miracle of Castel di Sangro - Joe McGinniss - 2000
- really get to know the town and Italian politics

The Education of an American Soccer Player - Shep Messing - 1979
- cut through the obvious attempts to shock and there is a really good account of the 1970s, Munich Olympics, and early NASL

All Played Out - Pete Davies - 1990
- The account of the USA - Italy game was perfect, just a great understanding of that entire world cup

Fever Pitch - Nick Hornby - 1992
- in some ways the best book, a non-fiction novel, but I'm Liverpool so I have to drop it a bit, women should read this book

The Game of Their Lives - Geoffrey Douglas - 1996 -
- Focused on the men and their lives as much as the game, good profiles of ethnic communities post ww2 and depression

Among the Thugs - Bill Buford - 1992
- read this, then watch Football Factory

A Season with Verona - Tim Parks - 2002
- the grind of fandom in a country mad about the game

How Soccer Explains the World - Franklin Foer - 2004
- sociological, cultural, political, ... wow, should be a sociology text

All The Best - Doug Thiel - 1978
- cut through the destiny crap, it felt forced, but it is accurate

Goooal! - Andres Cantor - 1996
- the culture and playing style of world cups throughout the decades, a love for the game and how it is played

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10 Soccer Movies To Watch

Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
- dated since it is a WUSA infomercial, but worth watching just for the final wedding reception / game montage, saw this as a sneak preview at the Guild 45th, very cool, I own it

Once In A Lifetime (2006)
- Galacticos 1977, Sounders, Chinaglia - 10-12 people in very small theatre, I own it

Football Factory (2004)
- watch this, then read "Among The Thugs", recomended by a bloke at the George and Dragon one morning who had a great perspective on women and football

Fever Pitch (1997)
- The spirit of the book, but to see Liverpool lose that way drops it

Goal! The Dream Begins (2005)
- we'll see about this as a trilogy, a typical Rocky type of sports move, but enjoyable because they did it well, even if a bit obvious

The Miracle Match (2005)
- a bit over the top with destiny and attempts to make the 2002 success a direct result, but good soccer scenes and setting, title change from theatre to video from book title due to NK film

Victory (1981)
- good war film, what Hogan's Heroes wasn't, the American becomes a goalie, Pele's bike, arm break scene

Shaolin Soccer (2001)
- sort of bizarre but entertaining in and utterly ridiculous way

Mean Machine (2001)
- Vinnie Jones in a Longest Yard remake set in England, plus Jason Statham as a psycho goalie, as a remake I cannot rank it higher on principle

Kicking and Screaming (2005)
- as I am now a youth soccer coach this is a great lesson, parent horror stories are also possible, I have been lucky so far

HM - Cats and Dogs (2001) for "Uruguay versus Chad!", MLS product placement, and youth soccer tryouts

HM - Ladybugs (1992) filmed at a Colorado Foxes APSL match