Through stunning infographics and high-quality illustrations, the world of soccer is brought to life. Full of facts and stats, players and personalities, this is the beautiful game as you have never seen it before. Whether it is uncovering the most goals scored in an international tournament, or comparing the left-foot of the world's best players, the intriguing and often surprising truths of soccer are uncovered. From the legend-makers Brazil and their world cup wins, the tallest and shortest players to have graced the game, to pitting the top players against each others, these striking and fun infographics put the game's most intriguing questions to the test. Who has scored more from the penalty spot, Ronaldo or Messi? Which goalie has the safest hands? Who has received the most red cards?

If readers have ever wondered how soccer players "bend it like Beckham," they'll enjoy this unique look at the science behind the world's most popular sport. Detailed text, fact boxes, sidebars, and diagrams help readers understand the many ways scientific concepts are applied on the soccer field. Readers also learn how scientific knowledge is put to use along with the other areas of STEM – technology, engineering, and math – to help soccer players train, avoid injury, and heal more quickly if they do get hurt. Full-color photographs place readers in the middle of the action on the pitch.

Profiles the careers and lives of twenty outstanding soccer players, including David Beckham, Birgit Prinz, Thierry Henry, and Marta.

Readers will never see soccer in the same way after reading this volume. The opening chapter provides a high-level overview, including soccer's origins, popularity around the world, possible controversies, and recent hot topics. Further chapters ease into the scientific principles and concepts relevant to soccer. Readers will learn about the biomechanics and physiology related to play, and relevant elements of related sports medicine. Readers will also learn about exercise, training, warm-ups, motor control and muscle fatigue, respiration and cardiovascular efficiency, diet and nutrition, and drugs.

The world?s most popular sport, soccer, is also one of the planet?s prevalent cultural expressions, celebrated and debated as an art form, observed with ritual and passion. Thus it has inspired literary efforts of every sort, from every corner of the globe, by women and men. The writings gathered in this volume reflect the universal and infinitely varied ways in which soccer connects with human experience. Poetry and prose from Ted Hughes, Charles Simic, Eduardo Galeano, G_nter Grass, Giovanna Pollarolo, 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature Winner Mario Vargas Llosa, and Elvis Costello?to name but a few?take us to a dizzying array of cultures and climes. From a patch of ground in Missoula, Montana, to a clearing in a Kosovo forest, from the stadiums of Burma and Iran to the northern lights over Greenland to remotest Sierra Leone, these writers show us soccer?s stars and fans, politics and rituals, as well as the game?s power to encourage resistance, inspire faith, and build community.

In 2002 Brazil national team coach Luiz Felipe Scolari actively used The Art of War for Brazil's successful World Cup campaign. Not only did Scolari read the book and apply its strategies, but on some occasions he actually slipped copies of the text underneath his players' doors during the night. Commenting on his use of The Art of War after the World Cup win, Scolari confirmed "sometimes a different approach like this can help." Quite the understatement.Composed in the late 5th century BCE, The Art of War by Chinese general Sun Tzu is the most well-known and well-respected work on military strategy and philosophy in history. Proving its timeless brilliance, the now 2400-year-old text is still used in teaching strategy and philosophy at the leading military academies today. The Art of War is used as instructional material at the US Military Academy at West Point and it is also recommended reading for Royal Officer cadets at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Business Insider magazine names The Art of War as one of the top 25 most influential books ever written, and highly respected astrophysicist and social commentator Neil deGrasse Tyson identifies Sun Tzu's work as one of the "seven books every intelligent person on the planet should read." The Art of War and Sun Tzu have been referenced and quoted in various movies and television shows, including "Wall Street," "The Rock," "The Family Man" "Bandits," and the James Bond movie "Die Another Day". In television, The Art of War has been referenced countless times, including in two of the most popular and most critically acclaimed shows of all time: "The Sopranos" (season 3, episode 9) and "Breaking Bad (season 2, episode 7). Most significantly for this project, The Art of War has been applied in sports, and not just by Scolari. NFL coach Bill Belichick, the coach with the most Super Bowl victories of all time, has stated on multiple occasions his admiration for The Art of War, with one specific headline reading "Belichick explains how advice from Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' helped build the Patriots dynasty." The advocation for Sun Tzu's strategies in all walks of life, including sports, could hardly be higher.