Embracing the fanatical interest in soccer, World Soccer Yearbook 2003-4 examines the game on a global level. Where other books have been club-based, league based, or specific to national teams, this is the first true survey of soccer around the world--from its origins in the 19th century, to the national, league, and club standings in the 2002-3 season. Exciting action-photographs, dynamic graphics, and illustrated charts take a refreshing and innovative approach to illustrating the world's most popular sport.

Thousands of football statistics are brought to life with illustrations and special features in this text. Every major league and international competition is covered, including: La Liga; the UEFA Cup 2002; and the European Champions League 2002.

Every single new Ebert review.

Soccer is the most popular mass spectator sport in the world, gaining huge media coverage and reaching all levels of society in countries all around the world. More than just entertainment, soccer has proved to be a reflection of national, cultural, community and ethnic identity as well as an indication of the development and international status of post-colonial nation states. For those nations still at the fringes of the modern global game, soccer represents a vision of potential commercialisation, capable of generating foreign reserves and bringing in considerable economic power. This book explores aspects of the development of soccer in countries which have recently been marginalised in world soccer or have only erratic success on the international stage. These fringe nations include a greater part of Africa, the USA, Australia, Israel, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand, Maldives and Sri Lanka, and while these countries are rarely noticed by the global football media, they nonetheless have great potential to excel, and many have a rich soccer heritage that still holds a place of central importance in the every day life of the people. This book was previously published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.

Whether you want to bend it like Beckham or dribble like Ronaldinho, The Soccer Book is the ultimate visual guide to soccer skills, rules, tactics, and coaching, illustrating every aspect of every variant of the sport more clearly, and in more detail, than any other book has done before.

Profiles of member countries and their dependencies, with statistical tables and a directory of Commonwealth organisations.

This yearbook is a comprehensive reference guide to all aspects of life in this region. It covers local aspects of politics, business studies, economics, European studies and media studies.