Eight World Cups - George Vecsey

After just the first chapter it became clear that I had chosen the right book. i had never read such a spot on description of why I love soccer. My love for soccer is extremely difficult to articulate. Of course I enjoy the feeling of playing, of winning, of scoring. And I love watching, seeing the superhuman athletes do things with their bodies that a mere mortal such as myself can not and should not be able to do. And I love the history, the pageantry and the multiculturalism. All of this makes the world cup so special and meaningful, and George Vecsey manages to capture it perfectly in a way that I never could. For the world cup last summer, I went into full lockdown. I watched every single match, taking over my basement with soccer paraphernalia on the walls, and a miniature field taped onto the floor. My parents could not understand why it was so important that I watch every single play, they did not understand the raw emotion that soccer brings out of me. I have read a lot of books. Some I enjoy for their creative storytelling, others for inventing an entirely new world and still others because of their beautiful writing. But this is one of the only books I have read in which I feel that I am the one writing it, or at least I could be if I had the words, and the ability to articulate how I feel on paper. It is supremely weird and awesome at the same time to have this feeling, where every single page I say to myself, "yeah, that is exactly how I felt when Donovan scored in extra time against Algeria," or "thats what I thought when I saw the brazilian fans at the world cup." I feel like I am reading at once an expression and an affirmation of my feelings. The universality has been made clear to me ever since I was little, but I love to see the way soccer makes millions of people feel can be put into words like this.
As a book that focuses on the World Cups (eight of them, from 1982 to the present), the book brings up several topics that I could look into. As stated in the subtitle (my journey through the beauty and dark side of soccer), Vecsey touches on both sides to the game. The easiest thing to research would probably be the obvious corruption and failures of FIFA, the sports governing body. Vecsey talks about the fixed match between Germany and Austria to knock off Algeria in 1982, then there is the more modern issue of the World Cup awarded to Qatar in 2022. I could definitely write a paper condemning that ridiculous decision. I am less sure how I could investigate the beautiful side of the game. This is much less fact based, more visceral and hard to explain. Maybe this would work better for my other more artistic genres. Whichever direction I choose to look at I am deeply enjoying this book, as it takes me through the soccer history I know and love.