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6 eclectic sports books

For those with wide-ranging sports interests, this Whitman’s Sampler of recent releases may be just the ticket.  

6. ‘Messi - 2016 Updated Edition: More Than a Superstar,’ by Luca Caioli

  • By Ross Atkin

At the moment, soccer’s cognoscenti seem to agree that Lionel Messi is the game’s best player. The Argentine forward has led his country’s national team to an Olympic gold medal and a World Cup runner-up finish. With his club team in Barcelona, meanwhile, he has been named the FIFA World Player of the Year an unprecedented five times, quite a feat for a player whose short stature has led to the nickname “The Atomic Flea.” This updated biography contains a number of conversations with players and coaches who’ve marveled at Messi’s talent.

Here’s an excerpt from Messi:

“At the home of English football, the Flea leads a wonderfully lively performance, exquisite and lyrical, and the Brits leave the ground convinced that they have just witnessed what can truly be called a beautiful game. A match to tell their grandchildren about. A performance rewarded with the man of the match title, presented on the pitch, a performance which exhausts all the media’s best adjectives. It is so convincing that the Guardian compares it to Nándor Hidegkuti’s performance in the same stadium, when he scored a hat-trick in Hungary’s 6-3 victory over England in the autumn of 1953.

“Above all, Messi has been a team player. He finds spaces and moves between the defense to strengthen Barca’s position and unravel Man United’s game plan. He demonstrates his wide repertoire: quick runs, passes in from the touchline to get round the opponents, assists, and attempts at goal. He gives the Reds’ defense a run for their money and he’s Vidíc and Evra’s worst nightmare.”

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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