Football in the books

For all football fans or those interested in learning interesting facts about the sport, the following books are recommended.

The World Cup is for Smart Guys

The World Cup is for Smart Guys: 122 Stories to Know More Than the Grown-Ups by Miguel Gutiérrez, Carlos Marañón, and Antonio Pacheco. Illustrated by Fernando del Hambre.

Did you know that a child eliminated Spain from a World Cup? Do you know who has scored the most goals in World Cup history? And who scored five in a single match? Do you know who "the Black Panther" was? And "El Matador"?

From Uruguay 1930 to Qatar 2022, discover impossible goals, epic finals, unlikely heroes, and incredible anecdotes that changed the history of football.

Travel through almost a century of World Cups in 122 amazing stories that will make you an expert on the greatest spectacle on the planet.

“The World Cup is the greatest football festival. It’s the tournament that, every four years, brings together national teams from every continent, featuring the world’s greatest talents. It doesn’t matter if they play for a team in the Spanish League, the Premier League, or the Saudi Arabian League. It doesn’t matter if they play for a team at the top of the table, in the middle, or fighting to avoid relegation. In the World Cup, they defend their country’s colors to win the most coveted trophy in the world of football,” reads this book.

From the creation of the rules of football in 1863 to the present day, football has given us hundreds of incredible players, legendary teams, unforgettable goals, and seemingly unbeatable goalkeepers, but also a wealth of entertaining anecdotes and impressive facts. Each story is designed to be read sequentially or independently, allowing the reader to jump from one tale to another as they wish.

Football Superheroes

Another recommended read is Football Superheroes by Mahamadou Traoré.

What if football players were actually superheroes? Watching their feats on the field, their dazzling passes to place the ball in front of the opposing goal, or their efforts to thwart a sudden attack, we can't help but wonder if football players possess superpowers.

This book offers a captivating visual immersion into the legends of the beautiful game. From young prodigies to astute strategists, from fearless strikers to goalkeepers with iron gloves, within its pages you'll discover more than 80 football icons in their superhero guise.

Among the international players discussed in the book are: Beckenbauer, Beckham, Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Maradona, Messi, Pelé, Platini, and many more.

The Author

Mahamadou Traoré, founder of Alvastudio7, is an illustrator and graphic designer. He combines his passion for football and art, immortalizing the sport's greatest moments with a style that pays homage to American comics. In recent years, he has collaborated with the Chicago Bulls, Ligue 1 Uber Eats, the French Olympic team, and the German magazine 11Freunde.

Life is Trained

Luis de la Fuente Castillo is a former footballer and coach, currently the manager of the Spanish national football team. As a player, he played left-back for Athletic Club, Sevilla FC, and Deportivo Alavés, making 254 appearances in the Spanish First Division. He was a member of the Spanish Under-21 national team and the Spanish Olympic team. He recently published *Life is Trained Every Day*. This autobiographical account shares, for the first time, his story and his understanding of football. It's a journey forged through patience and unwavering convictions, difficult decisions, and unwavering faith in his team. The national team coach discusses managing a squad under immense pressure, his commitment to young talents like Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, and his conviction that no individual is more important than the team.

“When I select a player, I demand that they be a good person. And for me, a good person is someone with principles; and in football, that means being supportive, generous, a team player with the capacity for hard work, and putting the team before individual interests,” the coach explains.

Beyond the matches and the titles, these pages tell the story of how his vision of football and life was forged: the responsibility of leadership, respect for the process, faith in daily work, and a spirituality that has quietly accompanied every stage of his career. This is the perspective of a man who has made commitment his personal hallmark and who embraces competition as a constant challenge, starting with himself.

Because, on and off the field, life is a daily practice.