Chapter 2

The Game of their lives by Geoffrey Douglas

This is a super story with lots of human interest and great soccer footage. Teaches you some sports history that most of the world is unfamiliar with; especially since most Americans don't think the U.S. has a soccer history.

The United States made it to the World Cup championship playoffs in 1950. It was a team of players who, unlike virtually any other players in the tournament, did not make their living primarily by playing soccer. Some were pros, but even then one could not make a living playing pro soccer in the United States. Most were amateurs who make just a few hundred dollars a year from their soccer.

Geoffrey Douglas’s book is a detailed account of the game, and some 46 years later, interviews with the surviving five players on their memories of the game and of the players themselves. This is a very light and cheery book, a quick and fun read.

Soccer is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world. A ball game, it is played on a rectangular grass field. The object of the game is to score by maneuvering the ball into the opposing goal; only the goalkeepers may use their hands or arms to propel the ball in general play. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extended time, depending on the format of the competition.

I come from Brazil where for decades has become the home of soccer. For decades, Brazil has produced an astonishing number of highly talented professional footballers, many of who leave the country to spend at least part of their careers abroad. The Brazil national team, widely regarded as the finest exponents of ‘the beautiful game’, has won the World Cup five times - twice more than any other country. After victories in 1958, 1962, 1970 and 1994, the latest triumph came in Japan and South Korea in 2002.