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.

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.

Every four years, Americans turn their attention to the world’s game - soccer. As recently as 1998, the USMNT merely made up the numbers at the biggest sporting tournament of all, but once Bruce Arena took over the team, American soccer started to find its footing. In the 2002 World Cup, a highly-fancied Portugal team, featuring the great Ronaldo, lost to Arena’s US team in a shocking 3-2 victory, and but for a handball that wasn’t given, they could well have knocked off eventual winners Germany.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lionel Messi loved soccer from an early age, often playing with his family members with encouragement from his grandmother. Now, he is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time! He is also one of the most decorated footballers in the world—having won 44 collective trophies, including seven Ballon d'Or awards, 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year, 2019 and 2022 Best FIFA Men's Player, and more. From making his first team debut at just sixteen years old in 2003 to breaking numerous longstanding records in 2012, to helping Argentina win the 2022 World Cup, Messi continues to wow fans.

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.

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 Athletic is back, returning with 100 compelling profiles of soccer’s most celebrated characters, from Dixie Dean, whose 1928 record for the most goals scored in an English top-flight season remains unbroken, to Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi, whose stellar performances in the 2022 World Cup final drew almost 1.5 billion television viewers.

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 in sports, revisiting their historic four World Cup titles and four Olympic gold medals, as well as unforgettable players across the generations, such as Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Briana Scurry, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Sophia Smith, Rose Lavelle, Catarina Macario, Mallory Pugh, and more.

In Soccer Grannies, Jean Duffy, a soccer-playing mom herself, recounts how she and her team set to work to bring the Soccer Grannies to the U.S. after hearing their incredible story. Despite many obstacles that stand in their way, the Soccer Grannies finally arrive, and Jean describes the wonderful friendships and cultural exchanges that follow. But Soccer Grannies tells more than just the physical journey of the South African women; it also details the Grannies’ personal journeys, sharing poignant insights into the realities of women living in South Africa.

The contrast is striking. As the United States Women’s National soccer team has long dominated the sport—winners of four World Cups and four Olympic gold medals—the men’s team has floundered. They failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and three consecutive Olympics, and have long struggled when facing the world’s best teams. How could a country so dominant in other men’s team sports—and such a global powerhouse in women’s soccer—be so far behind the rest of the world in men’s soccer?

This audiobook offers insights from sports, health care, business and government to help leaders get better outcomes.

What is a bravey? For Alexi Pappas, it means to chase the goals that seem scary. She has not shied away from the challenge. In this honest and hopeful memoir written especially for young listeners, Alexi Pappas details key moments that had profound effects on her life, including the loss of her mother when she was just four years old, to her formative years at school where she felt different from her peers, and into her young adult life, including the incredible year she experienced in 2016 when she made her Olympic debut as a distance runner.