Sports Soccer

Kevin De Bruyne is arguably Manchester City's best player. This is the story of how the young Belgian rose through the ranks, worked hard despite the difficulties he faced along the way, and showed courage and determination to prove his skill in the world's toughest league. His versatility, technique, and goal-scoring ability have allowed him to become a midfielder like no other this season.

Camila is ready to be a soccer star, but her soccer team, Las Estrellas Fugaz, has lost three games in a row. When it comes to soccer, it takes teamwork to become stars. How will Camila and the other shooting stars come together to earn a win?

Neil Atkinson explores how Klopp, heralded as one of the most charismatic and successful managers in the history of football, has taken Liverpool FC to great heights over the past nine years. As Klopp's departure nears, Atkinson looks back on the trailblazing manager's time in Liverpool, the legacy he leaves behind and what it means for Liverpool: the club and the city.

On 27th February 2022, after 170 matches in charge, promotion to the Premier League and some of the most exhilarating football the English game has ever seen, Leeds United parted company with their most beloved and successful manager in a generation: Marcelo Bielsa. His parting gift was to embrace the crowds of adoring fans who turned up to say thank you as he left the club's training ground for the final time.

Pat Nevin never wanted to be a professional footballer. His future was clear, he'd become a teacher like his brothers. There was only one problem with this - Pat was far too good to avoid attention. Raised in Glasgow's East End, Pat loved the game, playing for hours and obsessively following Celtic. But as he grew up, he also loved Joy Division, wearing his Indie 'gloom boom' coat and going on marches - hardly typical footballer behaviour!

The use of analytics in sport is now well embedded. Marginal gains, the bedrock upon which the cycling coach Dave Brailsford built his greatest successes, are cornerstones of most sports nowadays. But, until recently, that did not apply to the biggest sport in the world. Not in soccer. It was as though this simplest of sports is too complicated for statistics. Or that only one statistic counts, the number of times the ball hits the back of the net. "The only statistic that counts", there’s an often used and annoying stock term.

xGenius explores the interplay between analysis, tactics, and decision-making. It seeks to put the sport of football under the microscope with the aim of getting closer to the ultimate truth of what makes players, managers and teams successful. What, ultimately, wins football matches. Packed with examples from the Premier League and beyond, xGenius shows how xG and other performance analysis tools are helping answer previously unanswerable questions.

Mary Fowler is already a global football superstar with the Matildas, but there's so much more to the person behind the headlines and highlight-reel goals. Bloom is a mix of deeply personal experiences that have shaped Mary, behind-the-scenes insights from the Matildas' World Cup run...

In this riveting follow-up to the best seller Everything Your Coach Never Told You Because You're a Girl, Coach Dan Blank takes aim at the warm and fuzzy double-standard facing those who coach female athletes and reveals the philosophies and methods that sparked a culture of unapologetic competitiveness in a women’s college soccer team that won more games than it was ever supposed to win.

Real Madrid is the most successful sports team on the planet. The soccer club has more trophies than any other sports team, including 11 UEFA Champions League trophies. However, the story behind the triumph goes beyond the players and coaches. Generally unnoticed, a management team consisting mostly of outsiders took the team from near bankruptcy to the most valuable sports organization in the world. How did Real Madrid achieve such extraordinary success? Columbia Business School adjunct professor Steven G. Mandis investigates.

Watford Forever is the remarkable account of Elton John’s ownership of Watford FC, and its transformational journey to the top of the First Division under iconic manager Graham Taylor, who was, in the words of award-winning journalist John Preston, “as traditional as Elton was unconventional.” Inspiring, funny, and ultimately heartrending, this is a tribute to soccer’s unlikeliest duo as Elton and Taylor—a straight-talking former fullback with literally no interest in rock music—both beat the odds and their personal demons to save a club and a community.

Learn about Pelé with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Edson Arantes do Nascimento is one of the most successful sports players in history. You probably know this Brazilian soccer player by his nickname: Pelé. He played soccer professionally for 20 years between 1957 and 1977. In that time he went from being a young sporting prodigy to the most admired and distinguished soccer player in history.

There are a few keys that will either make or break your soccer coaching and in this book, you'll discover what they are. Without knowing these keys and adapting them in your coaching, it's really hard to reach success as a soccer coach. One of these keys is to always show engagement because if you don't, your players will never appreciate your efforts and their respect for your coaching abilities will be highly limited.

Want to nurture your child's love for soccer while teaching them valuable life lessons? You’re in luck—this collection of 21 stories seeks to. We understand how challenging it can be to find books that captivate your child’s interest and instill essential values. “Inspirational Short Soccer Stories for Kids: 21 Amazing True Lessons about Overcoming Adversity, Motivation, and Achieving Goals” is a heartwarming collection of tales designed to motivate and entertain young soccer enthusiasts.

Colaborador y testigo privilegiado de la épica campaña de Bielsa en el Leeds, Salim Lamrani cuenta desde adentro el desarrollo de un método basado en la posesión de la pelota, la presión constante, la cobertura colectiva, los pases fuertes, el ataque perpetuo y una contundente versatilidad. A su vez, desentraña las claves de un estilo de conducción único: la intensa pretemporada, que comprende no sólo un riguroso plan físico sino una cultura de equipo integral, con espacio para el trabajo y para el ocio, así como para compartir lecturas, música y gustos.

Anyone doubting that Diego Maradona was more than just a football player had only to witness the outpourings after his death on 25th November 2020. During his tempestuous life and career, he played for top clubs in South America and Europe, notably Napoli, where he became an adored hero and adopted son, and grew to be a legend in his homeland of Argentina after leading them to victory in the 1986 World Cup.

Masour Ousmane Dembélé proved himself as a superstar player from a young age when he was named Player of the Year in his first professional signing with French team Rennes. He transferred to Dortmund where a goal in the final helped them win the DFB-Pokal. Dembélé transferred to Barcelona for a fee of €105 million where the team won seven titles. In 2023 he returned to France and signed with Paris Saint-Germain.

What could go wrong if you join a team being called "the worst ever"? Noah and Daniel are both excited about their new school and hope to become the boys they know they can be. Noah hopes to fit in and be part of a group of friends for a change, and Daniel, whose parents love moving to new places, just wants to stay in one place long enough to have a birthday party with friends from school. They quickly size each other up and, despite their differences — Noah has a cochlear implant while Daniel’s parents barely seem to know he exists — they soon become best friends.

Master of the no-look goal and Anfield favourite, Roberto 'Bobby' Firmino, signed for Liverpool in July 2015. Over the next eight years - and seven winners' medals - he established himself as one of the club's most important players in recent years for his audacious skill, impressive goal scoring, and beaming smile. Jürgen Klopp saw Firmino as the on-pitch 'engine' that drove the club's counter-pressing strategy and together with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, Firmino formed a formidable attacking trio.

What sets the very best footballers apart from the rest? It’s not about ability but about being able to perform at your peak level consistently. You train your ability regularly, but do you leave your form down to ‘luck’ and simply hope you have a good game? Thanks to developments in our understanding of how the brain works, you can now effectively train to improve your form by conditioning your thoughts and behaviour in all aspects of your life. This engages the parts of the brain that enable you to perform consistently on the football pitch.