2nd Quarter Reading Book

Why Soccer is the #1 Sport in the World-

1. Equipment is cheap. All you need is a ball, shoes and a playing surface

2. It challenges players not to use their hands

3. Prevents suicide by allowing individuals to share a common passion

4. The British call soccer "football", cleats "boots" and a field "a pitch"

5. Juggling a soccer ball looks really cool. Exhibit A-

Soccernomics

Why do the almighty British lose? Why are their neighbors, the Scots, bad? Why can't America dominate the international level and why do the Germans play a robotic but highly effective style? These are questions every soccer aficionado has asked. Soccernomics answers them. The authors, Simon Kuper and the economist Stefan Szymanksi, contribute to soccer what "Moneyball" contributed to baseball. The game is analyzed through statistics, economics, psychology, and intuition to try and understand the unanswered questions that have come up throughout the history of the sport, such as how Turkey and South Korea made it as far as the semi-finals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Kuper and Szymanski capture what 'everybody' knows about success and failure in soccer and put it under rigorous analysis that is made into good stories that carry the narrative along.

"...the thinking in soccer is outdated, backward and tradition-based. It needs a fresh look based on data. There’s a new global map, with countries like the U.S. and Japan already rising. And they will continue to rise at the expense of Europe as knowledge gets disbursed. And it’s happening very quickly.” - Simon Kuper

Since 1930, the FIFA World Cup has dominated the sports viewing industry, averaging more than 750 million viewers per tournament, whether they watch it on television or attend the live games. Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski provide their opinions on why this event is so popular through statistics and philosophy.

Kuper and Szymanski explain that before each World Cup, a catchy theme song is written to capture the passion of this infamous sporting event. The most popular one, Waka Waka by Shakira, written for the 2010 World Cup, stole the hearts from almost every soccer fan with its upbeat tempo and unified support for their country's team like an army preparing for battle against their enemy, which is the underlying meaning of the song.

"Gentlemen prefer blondes" is a phrase that can be used to describe how the managers of soccer teams buy new players. They tend to invest in players that have "attractive" stats such number of goals scored or assists which is also a big selling point for the fans of the club.

Soccer teams are very inefficient when it comes to handling money. 70% of all player transfers have resulted in either the buying club spending too much money or the selling club losing money.

This book is a must-read for any fan who wants to know the secrets behind the business of soccer

- Which corner kick routine is more dangerous? the inswinger or the outswinger?

- What is the relationship between the love for soccer and the love for numbers?

- Why are soccer clubs some of the most stable businesses on Earth?

- Are penalty kicks really unfair?

- Does a fan love their club more than their spouse?

So what are you waiting for? Grab a copy of Soccernomics today and impress your friends with your soccer knowledge