Overview

At turns lyrical, ironic, and sympathetic, Mario Filho's chronicle of ""the beautiful game"" is a classic of Brazilian sports writing. Filho (1908-1966)-a famous Brazilian journalist after whom Rio's Maracana stadium is officially named-tells the Brazilian soccer story as a boundary-busting one of race relations, popular culture, and national identity. Now in English for the first time, the book highlights national debates about the inclusion of African-descended people in the body politic and situates early black footballers as key creators of Brazilian culture. When first introduced to Brazil by British expatriots at the end of the nineteenth century, the game was reserved for elites, excluding poor, working-class, and black Brazilians. Filho, drawing on lively in-depth interviews with coaches, players, and fans, points to the 1920s and 1930s as watershed decades when the gates cracked open. The poor players and players of color entered the game despite virulent discrimination. By the mid-1960s, Brazil had established itself as a global soccer powerhouse, winning two World Cups with the help of star Afro-Brazilians such as Pele and Garrincha. As a story of sport and racism in the world's most popular sport, this book could not be more relevant today.

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9781469637006

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Reviews

Filho's comprehensive work will leave sports fans with a better understanding of soccer as both a sport and a global cultural phenomenon.--Publishers Weekly

Filho's comprehensive work will leave sports fans with a better understanding of soccer as both a sport and a global cultural phenomenon. --Publishers Weekly More than seventy years since its original publication, [The Black Man in Brazilian Soccer] ... still arouses the interest of readers and academics, at home and abroad --Bruno Rodrigues, Folha de Sao Paulo

Author Information

Mario Filho was a prize-winning Brazilian journalist and sports writer. Jack A. Draper III, the translator, is associate professor of Portuguese at the University of Missouri.

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