You called it! Who scored the first hat trick in World Cup soccer competition? Take a look at the vast majority of books published on the World Cup and you will find that honor belongs to Guillermo Stabile of Argentina. But should it? Was Stabile really the first player to score a hat trick or should the record really belong to American Bert Patenaude? Stabile scored his three goals against Mexico on July 19, 1930, while Patenaude scored his three against Paraguay on July 17, 1930, two days earlier. So why is it that the records of the World Cup show that Stabile holds the record?http://www.rsssf.com/tables/30f-hattrick.html
I bought it for $1.95 in the pre MLS & post NASL years when soccer was pretty much dead. I guess that was why it was cheap.
The ones I saw through Amazon were about $8 to $15. I am surprised they are that inexpensive. I wonder how many were printed? There is a book like this that was written about the Seattle Sounders back in the 70's and it was going for about $80 on E-bay last year.
Just watched the Cosmos movie today. Focuses on that team, of course, but great overview of the period and the changing perceptions of the sport in the 70s--when the team was regularly drawing over 70k to a game (including Kissinger and Mick Jagger!) I checked it out of at my library for free, but bought the book--that should arrive within the next week or so.
As is usually the case, the book covers some things that weren't in the movie (likely due to time restraints) and goes into greater detail on the things that were in the movie. You'll enjoy it. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I recommend: How Soccer Explains The World (Foer, 2004). A series of essays that combine soccer and geopolitical issues. I was very interested in the histories of some notable, and not so notable, soccer teams and leagues around the globe. Quick read, entertaining and informative, easy to find. I have just started reading: Soccer In A Football World (Wangerin, 2006). A portion of the back cover blurb: "Yet the neglected story of American soccer's long struggle is a rich and surprising one. Davis Wangerin traces its path from the brief promise of the 1920s, through the euphoric highs and extravagant follies of the NASL, to today's hard won acceptance." The author is American, but has lived and reported in the U.K. since 1988. He also worked at one time for Aston Villa. The book itself is very well researched and all you "who, what, when, where" trivia buffs will love it! The book is available at Amazon U.K. The cost was about $20 but the shipping was twice that! Might want to wait until it is released here in the U.S.!
What about his promise that San José would never have an MLS team again? GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Or as he would say, "I call it as I see it". By the way, shouldn't Cleveland now be getting prepared to play in 2008, with Figo coming to MLS and Beckham not coming to MLS? GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I’m not sure about that book but the Soccer Fever book (circa 1975) was pretty interesting. Its funny how hardly anyone (except the foreigners) knew much about soccer back then yet they seemed and became very knowledgeable about the sport in a very short period of time. As opposed to now, there were constantly 17k + attending each match…..