English Soccer

For legions of soccer fans, the players on the US Women's National Soccer Team are the game's standard-bearers. Together their accomplishments include four World Cup titles and four Olympic gold medals. Within five years of their inaugural match in 1985, the team was the best women's soccer team on the planet. But its rise was neither easy nor harmonious. They faced discrimination and unequal treatment, most notably from their governing bodies, FIFA and U.S. Soccer.

Though it burst into public consciousness only with the 1999 World Cup, women’s soccer has been around almost as long as its male counterpart, flourishing in England during and after World War I. Beyond Bend It Like Beckham presents the first in-depth global analysis of the women’s game - both where it has come from and where it is headed. Though women in the United States and Canada still fight for equal treatment and funding, their situations differs markedly from the hostility, abuse, and even outright bans that some women still encounter.

The Language of the Game is a passionate and engaging introduction to soccer's history, tactics, and human drama. Filled with perceptive insights and stories both legendary and little known, The Language of the Game is a rewarding listen for anyone seeking to understand soccer better.

As Mexico has descended into a feudal narco-state - one where cartels, death squads, the army, and local police all fight over billions of dollars in profits from drug and human trafficking - the border city of Jurez has been hit hardest of all. And yet, more than a million people still live there. They even love their impoverished city, proudly repeating its mantra: "Amor por Jurez." Nothing exemplifies the spirit and hope of Juarenses more than the Indios, the city's beloved but hard-luck soccer team.

Kate Conner is an expert at multi-tasking. Wife, mom, demon-hunter. She can stuff hundreds of Easter eggs for the neighborhood fair and still have enough energy to pummel a demon back into the ether. But Kate's life has gotten more complicated. Her first husband has returned from the dead in the body of her daughter's chemistry teacher. Different body, same hot desire for Kate.

Growing up Jewish in London with a difficult home life, Jonathan Wilson had plenty of reasons to feel he didn't belong, and one reason to feel certain he did: football. Wilson discovered his love for the game as a young boy; through his adolescence and adulthood and well into his later years it remained an important part of his life.

After 14 years as a stay-at-home mom, Kate Connor has finally rejoined the workforce. But unlike most working moms, Kate can't rearrange her home obligations to fit the needs of her job. Well, not easily, anyway. And not without a few little white lies. Because the truth is, no one in her family has any clue that she's returned to the job of her youth. Which means no late nights working beside her husband at the kitchen table while the kids watch television. Although, when you think about it, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

In 1990, though no one knew it then, a fearless group of players changed the sport of soccer in the United States forever. Young, bronzed, and mulletted, they were America’s finest athletes in a sport that America loved to hate. Even sportswriters rooted against them. Yet this team defied massive odds and qualified for the World Cup, making possible America’s current obsession with the world’s most popular game. New Kids in the World Cup is the origin story of modern American soccer.

Once again, Kate Connor has a problem. Several, actually. For one thing, her daughter has figured out that mom is a demon-hunter - and wants to be just like her when she grows up. And there's that nagging suspicion that her dead husband has come back to life in the body of another man. Plus, her living husband still doesn't know her secrets. Not to mention the fact that she's acquired a mystical item that the entire demon community seems hell-bent on reclaiming.

Demon-Hunter Kate Connor is having a very bad month. Her resurrected first husband houses the soul of a demon. Her current husband is being overly attentive to the point of smothering. Her toddler son has entered a tantrum phase. And her teenage daughter is still determined to be the next, best demon slayer. Worse, she's determined to get her learner's permit the day she turns 15. That's a lot for one woman to juggle, even a Demon-Hunter. Add saving the world to the mix, and things are about to get complicated.

“An eccentric, fascinating exposé of a world most of us know nothing about. . . . Bristles with anecdotes that are almost impossible to believe.” —New York Times Book Review “Terrific. . . . A travelogue full of important insights into both cultural change and persistence...

Soccer has been the world’s most popular sport for the last century, and an irresistible game for political and social leaders seeking shortcuts to the hearts of their people. Sometimes it worked, momentarily, but as renowned sports journalist Luciano Wernicke writes in this fascinating and original audiobook, the game and its glories have survived them all.

The universally loved, award-winning host of Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday and Channel 4's Countdown, and author of the best-selling Jelleyman's Thrown a Wobbly, returns with a Jackanory-style, football-flavoured narrative which gathers together the funniest, weirdest, most tragic, most heartwarming, under-the-radar stories of the football season. The book is stuffed to the gunnels with behind-the-scenes revelations, opinions and personal anecdotes from Jeff, and has a strong leaning towards the absurdities of the game.

Receiving letters by post or via e-mail has always been important to me. Even now I feel slightly disappointed if the postman passes the door without anything for me, even though I know the chances are it will be a bill, a parking fine, a bank statement or a catalogue offering me clothing or garden furniture. The same applies when my inbox is empty save for someone offering a deal on a used car or urging me to change my energy provider.

Her body may still crave his, but US Soccer player Lauren Vorski knows better than to lust after Pete Kendrick. They may have had a smoking hot fling, but then he turned out to be her new head coach and had the nerve to cut her from the World Cup team. Now, her only mission is to prove how wrong he was about her by making the roster for the upcoming Olympics. If only she could stop thinking about how hot their time together was....

The first half of this delightful audiobook is packed with stories that will thrill football-loving adults. From epic comebacks to incredible goals, these tales will have you on the edge of your seat. And the best part? You can share them with your children in the second half of the audiobook, where they'll discover their own heartwarming soccer stories.

The US Women’s National Soccer Team has won three World Cups and four Olympic gold medals, set record TV ratings, drawn massive crowds, earned huge revenues for FIFA and US Soccer, and helped to redefine the place of women in sports. But despite their dominance, and their rosters of superstar players, they’ve endured striking inequality: low pay, poor playing conditions, and limited opportunities to play in professional leagues.

The first official history of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, celebrating nearly four decades of the team's athletic excellence and cultural impact Telling the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team's story in expert prose, Pride of a Nation is a lavish tribute to one of the most beloved teams...

This action-packed trivia book is your ultimate challenge—featuring brain-teasing quizzes, fun facts, and iconic moments from 11 major sports including rugby, cricket, basketball, and the NFL.

A Pulitzer Prize–winning sports journalist unravels why the United States has failed to produce elite men’s soccer players for so long—and shows why a golden era just might be coming. “George Dohrmann is one of our most perceptive chroniclers of youth sports in the United States, and...