Soccer's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Clumsy Keepers, Clever Crosses, and Outlandish Oddities

by John Snyder

Ernie Brandts of the Netherlands scored a goal for each team and injured his own goalkeeper in a 1978 World Cup match against Italy. Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler was suspended for four games and fined for pretending to snort the white chalk endline while celebrating a goal. In 1970, after El Salvador defeated Honduras in a World Cup qualifying match, the two countries severed diplomatic relations, and a four-day “Soccer War” broke out, in which more than 10,000 people died. A 1995 match in South Africa between the host Moroka Swallows and the Qwa Qwa Stars was delayed after the visiting team accused the host of using magical powers against them. Soccer's Most Wanted™ features the most outrageous players, the oddest injuries, the strangest matches, the most fantastic finishes, the greatest champions, and the most inept teams. In short, it covers the best and worst moments in the history of world soccer. Die-hard fans as well as newcomers to the sport will enjoy this irreverent guide to soccer trivia.

Genres: Nonfiction, Soccer

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

John Snyder is the author of the bestseller The Golden Ring - A Christmas Story and a new Christmas Book, Jacob's Bell, due to be released by FaithWords/Hachette Book Group on October 2, 2018.

He is a member of the Authors Guild. Before retiring, he owned and operated an award-winning public relations/advertising/sports marketing firm in the Baltimore, MD/Washington, DC area for nearly twenty-five years. His firm worked with and represented some of the world’s top professional athletes, sports franchises (including the Washington Capitals of the NHL, the Washington Bullets of the NBA, and top INDYCAR teams, NASCAR teams, and teams in other prominent racing series), as well as
nationally televised sporting events.

When not writing, John enjoys spending time with family and friends, camping, hiking, golfing, motorsports (he has raced karts—capable of speeds in excess of 100 mph, pit crewed in the Indianapolis 500, and operated the driver communications board from the wall at the edges of speedways across the United
States for his former client, two-time Indy 500 winner and national auto racing champion Al Unser, Jr.). John lives in Mocksville, North Carolina, with his wife, Ruth Ellen. Contact him at johnsnyder@johnsnyder.net and find out more at www.johnsnyder.net.

Reviews

[Daniel S]

This book talked about how soccer was created and how all of the countries started to have teams that played soccer. I liked this book because it talked about the origins of soccer and how all the famous teams from today were created. I also liked how it also talked about the countries that have won trophies like the world cup, and it also talked about countries that were doing good but now they are not that good.

[Neal Stouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like the encyclopedia of soccer. This is a non-fiction book consisting of interesting, funny, and shocking facts and stories about soccer. The book is divided into many sections that are based on a common theme. In these sections there are ten different stories about an interesting event that has occurred in the history of soccer. The facts and stories include how ancient civilizations played games which led to the development of the modern day game, and even celebrity involvement with the sport. Also included in the book is the different ways all the different cultures around the world enjoy the sport of soccer. Anything bizarre or shocking about soccer can be found in this book.
This was one of the only books that was hard for me to put down. The reason for this is because there are so many facts in the book you don't want to stop learning new shocking stories about soccer. I enjoyed how there were interesting stories from around the world that way i could connect with some of the stories about my favorite teams.
This book can be compared to a world history book but only focusing on the sport of soccer. Though reading this book is not like reading a textbook, it is very similar because you will gain so much knowledge and history about soccer.
I would recommend this book only to true soccer fans from all over the world. If you do not follow soccer or you have no interest in the sport this book will bore you to death. If you love soccer and you follow the sport then i highly recommend you read this.
Overall this book in my opinion is perfect for any soccer fan. When I read it I was constantly shocked, informed about something interesting, or laughing because of the humorous stories and facts.

[Joseph H · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like soccer and you like reading to this is the book for you.

[Juan Ponce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice data, but a really long book.

[Lance Schrock]

I learned alot about famous soccer player and the history of soccer