Andrew Downie's Brazil Blog

• Waldir Peres, much-maligned but rarely lauded goalkeeper, dead at age 66. 6 years ago It is unfortunate that Waldir Peres, the Brazilian goalkeeper who died on Sunday aged 66, will be remembered mostly for his calamitous mistake in the 1982 World Cup match against the USSR. Peres let Andrei Bal’s 30-yard strike squirm through his hands and the image became an unforgettable one for...
• Five Books On Brazilian Football - No. 5 6 years ago The Boy in Brazil: Living, Loving and Learning in the Land of Football, by Seth Burkett This is the only book on the list that I haven’t read but I want to recommend it for the simple reason that it offers an entirely different perspective on Brazilian football than all the others. Written by an...
• Five Books On Brazilian Football - No. 4 6 years ago An Entirely Different Game, by Aidan Hamilton This is a book about the origins of Brazilian football, and particularly the British influence on those early days. Everyone knows the story of Charles Miller, arriving at the port of Santos in 1894 with a ball and a rule book, but there were many other...
• Five Books On Brazilian Football - No. 3 6 years ago Garrincha: The Triumph and Tragedy of Brazil’s Forgotten Footballing Hero, by Ruy Castro. Off the field, Garrincha’s life was a mix of triumph, comedy, soap opera and tragic farce. A winger for Botafogo who spent most of his life married to one of Brazil’s most famous samba stars, Garrincha...
• Five Books On Brazilian Football - No. 2 6 years ago Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil Through Soccer, by David Goldblatt. Goldblatt is a brilliant researcher and historian, and after writing what are considered to be the definitive histories of both football and the Olympics he turned his hand to Brazil ahead of the 2014 World Cup. Like Bellos’...

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