Soccer in Sun and Shadow Notes -

I just finished a book on the history of Soccer, called Soccer in Sun and Shadow. It’s written by Eduardo Galeano, a really famous and talented Latin American author.

The book is half history of soccer and it’s evolution, and half philosophical-style writing on what soccer means to people, what it means for countries and a nation’s pride, and also how it has evolved as a form of art. Overall, incredibly enjoyable to read. The tone is breezy, but at times becomes serious and analyzes how soccer has been intertwined throughout the history of the world. I also just wanted to share some of the best excerpts from the book.

Domingos -

There was a talented player named Domingo, who was a wizard with the ball, snd had excellent control. This is how he spoke about the ball:

“This here ball helped me a lot. She or her sisters, right? It’s a family to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. In my time on earth, she was the key. Because without her nobody plays at all. I stared out in Bangu club’s factory. Working, working, until I met my friend here. And I was very happy with her.

I’ve seen the world, traveled a lot, had many women. Women are a pleasure too, right?”

Pedernera -

There was a very passionate Argentine player named Pedernera. He was nicknamed “Machine”, due to his never ending motor. This is the excerpt from the book:

“The urge to play tickled him all over. He never wanted matches to end. When night fell, stadium employees would try in vain to get him to stop practicing. They wanted to pull him away from soccer but they couldn’t; the game refused to him let go.”

And that’s just how I love to write about sports. So eloquent, almost just like a romance novel, but instead it’s about the love of a game.

Pele -

You might have heard of this guy. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, Pele was a quick Brazilian player who was considered unstoppable and held the record for most goals scored ever for about 50 years. The book has this neat paragraph about a specific moment in his career:

“To see him play was worth a truce and a lot more. Once he held up a war: Nigeria and Biafra declared a truce to see him play.”

That’s greatness right there.

“He was born in a poor home in a far-off village, and he reached the summit of power and fortune where blacks were not allowed. Off the field he never gave a minute of his time and a coin never fell from his pocket. But those of us who were lucky enough to see him play received alms of extraordinary beauty: moments so worthy of immortality that they make us believe immortality exists.”

Hell. Yeah.

Talking of the importance of Soccer in Brazil -

“There are towns and villages in Brazil that have no church, but not a lone lacks a soccer field. Sunday is the day of hard labor for cardiologists all over the country. On a normal Sunday people die of excitement during the mass of the ball. On a Sunday without soccer, people die of boredom.”

Talking of the scumminess of some Soccer Club and Team Owners and Coaches -

“Nearly two thousand years before all this, the biblical patriarch who wrote the book of Acts told the story of two early Christians, Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who sold a piece of land and lied about the price. When God found out, he killed them on the spot.

If God had time for soccer, how many directors would remain alive?”

Soccer as a Joy -

“A reported once asked German theologian Dorothee Sölle, ‘How would you explain happiness to a child?’. ‘I wouldn’t explain it’, she answered. ‘I’d toss him a ball and let him play.’”

Continual Motif -

The absolute funniest part of the book though, was every time a World Cup happened (repeats every four years), the author would kind of summarize what had happened or what was happening in the world at large. And from the mid 60s to the late 90s-early 2000s, there would always be a sentence that said: “Well-informed sources in Miami were announcing the imminent fall of Fidel Castro, it was only a matter of hours.”