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How Soccer Explains the World:

An Unlikely Theory of Globalization

Author: Franklin Foer
Category: Non-Fiction

Unlikely indeed! This book takes an unorthodox approach at examining globalization and its effects (or lack thereof) in the world of soccer. By collecting a number of essays regarding particular soccer teams scattered throughout Europe and America, Franklin Foer makes the argument that globalization has not necessarily been a positive influence in the pitch and that given that football is the true world sport, it can be used as a mirror to attitudes in different countries in a far more general term.

The book sounds a bit fanatical, though in truth it truly isn’t extremist in anyway and actually provides far more knowledge to the reader than the theory of globalization that its subtitle offers, but also a glimpse at the good and the bad sides of both the sport and its fans, who often bring their clubs a bad reputation.

It should be stated, however, that the title is not exactly accurate. This book does not explain the world, or even a quarter of it. While the essays offer a good amount of insight into a number of teams and cultures, those teams are very heavily focused on European teams, which include: Red Star Belgrade, Barcelona, Ajax, Celtic FC, Rangers, etc…only three other countries are looked at outside of Europe: Brazil, Iran and the USA. One can hardly call this a full view of the world, when only two of the seven continents are being looked at.

In the end, the book is misleading in that sense and offers a relatively on-the-surface look at the various teams it talks about. While it is an insightful read for soccer fans, I doubt that it will satisfy the average reader, who might only come out of this one with a bad taste in their mouth given the negative tales on which this book chooses to focus on. In my opinion, the Unites States is already having a hard time adopting soccer as a sport, this book is not exactly going to help matters and it takes a soccer fan in order to not be alarmed by what this pages contain, knowing that it is the exception and not the rule of behavior. Unfortunately, in that aspect this book is also relatively unbalanced, offering a good number of shocking tales bound to make the reader shake his head, but relatively few of the positive and inspiring tales such as that of Barcelona FC. This is a fast read, an interesting read, but in general not the most complex of material. The sort of book you might want to read in small bits (given the convenient breaks that the essays provide), but it will leave the avid reader wanting to know more, about politics, about football or about both.

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