The beautiful game - Chris Taylor

Taking its title from Pel's famous description of soccer, THE BEAUTIFUL GAME looks at the good, the bad and the ugly in the entire range of the Latin American football experience, from the giants of Brazil and Argentina through up-and-coming nations such as Colombia and Bolivia to the beleaguered football minnows of Nicaragua. At the heart of Latin American football lurks a paradox. On the field dazzling skills have bought Brazil four World Cups and made Latin America a synonym for footballing wizardry. Off the field, the game has entered into a dangerously over-familiar relationship with the world of drug trafficking and big business. Updated to cover the 1998 World Cup in France, The Beautiful Game provides an incisive and lively account of how soccer is integrated into Latin American culture, politics and society.