Introducing Soccer

By Katie P.

Published in 2014, Edison Arantes do Nascimento, biography "Why Soccer Matters" is a story of a talented soccer player, who tells the story of his soccer life. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pele, is one of the greatest soccer players in the history of soccer and one of the best athletes of all time. For decades, Pele has been his sport's best player. A winner of three World Cups for Brazil's team and playing for the New York Cosmos for a little while. 

Pele is definitely known from having"beautiful game," a phrase that he loves to say. This book provides an reflection of  international soccer in the World Cup era. Pele's voice shines through, and for this he is known as a great player. The co-author, Brian Winter, captures Pele's passion for the game. Pele uses five sections, of the different World Cups, to structure the narrative essay, beginning with the 1950 World Cup, which Brazil sadly. This beginning allows Pele to tell of his boyhood, his relationship with his father, whose own soccer-playing career represents a "what might have been" story, and his early exposure to the beautiful game. This was a quote he told his dad, "It's ok, dad," I told him. "One day, I promise, I'll win the World Cup for you." Not all sons are able to keep their promises to their dads, but Pele – the world's most famous footballer from Brazil and won three FIFA World Cups, not many people can say that.  The four remaining sections of the 1958 World Cup, which saw the first of Brazil's world-record by having five world championships; 1970, another Brazil win and Pele's last cup as a player; 1994, which took place in the United States and which Pele supported the team for the upcoming 2014 Cup in Pele's native country, for which this book is timed, but sadly Brazil lost in the semi-finals to Germany, who later on won the 2014 world cup.

Why Soccer Matters, by Pele, April 2014, 292 pages