Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Evita and Juan Peron, Augusto Pinochet, and Pablo Escobar br 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. Some of the prime movers of the twentieth-century, including Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Evita and Juan Perón, Augusto Pinochet, and the drug lord Pablo Escobar, have found in soccer a magnificent partner for enflaming patriotism, manipulating the masses, prolonging their stays on the throne, justifying aberrant acts, or simply recreating the old Roman "bread and circuses" (in many cases witho ..

Some of the Best World Cup stories br There was a player who suffered a heart attack in the middle of a match, a defender who was murdered for defending his honesty after having committed the sin of scoring an own goal, a striker who preferred to die rather than serve Nazi propaganda, and numerous players who refused to leave the pitch despite having broken bones. In this fascinating, funny romp through almost a century of World Cups, esteemed sportswriter Luciano Wernicke chronicles the unforgettable crashes, the magnetic personalities, and the stunning records set in the global contest for supremacy in the most popular of sports. ..