As a technically outstanding national captain, Michael Ballack has established himself as Chelsea FC’s midfield lethal weapon. His visionary passing, goal-scoring prowess, and perfect timing make him the player to watch whenever the Blues are on the pitch. Equally competent with both feet, he can turn defense into attack with killer results. This is the story of Ballack’s rapid rise to prominence, beginning with the start of his career at age seven with the BSG Motor club. After signing with Kaierslauten, Ballack went on to become a three-time winner of the German player of the year award. His subsequent three seasons at Bayer Leverkusen and four at Bayern Munich cemented his reputation as the premier attacking midfielder with an eye for a goal and one of soccer’s greats

Soccer, the world’s most popular mass spectator sport, gives birth to great achievers on the field of play all the time. While some of them become heroes and stars during their playing career, transforming themselves into national as well as global icons, very few come to be remembered as all-time greats. They leave an enduring legacy and thereby claim to be legends by their own rights. While the rise and achievements of these soccer greats have drawn considerable attention from scholars across the world, their legacies across time and space have mostly been overlooked. This volume intends to reconstruct the significance of the legacies of such great men of world soccer particularly in a globalized world. It will attempt to show that these luminous personalities not only represent their national identity at the global stage, but also highlight the proven role of the players or coaches in projecting a global image, cutting across affiliations of nation, region, class, community, religion, gender and so on. In other words, the true heroes, icons and legends of the world’s most popular sport have always floated at a transnational global space, transcending the limits of space, identity or culture of a nation. This book was published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.

Mesut Ozil is a midfield magician, casting an elegant spell over opponents and conjuring passes through gaps lesser mortals can't even see. After an eventful sojourn among the Galacticos of Real Madrid he has savoured silverware at Arsenal, while in 2014 he lifted the World Cup with Germany. But his life and career have been a test of resilience. Growing up in Germany's Turkish community, he faced prejudice from those who claimed his dual identity would prevent him giving his all for the national team. Later came questions over a different type of commitment, the kind levelled against those, like Mesut Ozil, who excel in football's finer arts rather than relying simply on running and ruggedness. He has proved concerns on both these issues lack substance. In Gunning for Greatness, Mesut Ozil reveals the inside stories of his relationships with Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger, his quest to help the under-fire Frenchman restore Arsenal's pre-eminence - and how he silenced the sceptics by conquering the world.

This book is not so much round the world in eighty days as round the world in 1,200 challenging quiz questions, designed to test the knowledge, resolve and goal-scoring accuracy of even the most ardent football fan. Spanning the whole history of the World Cup since its conception and covering all the nail-biting competitions, participating teams and unforgettable players and managers, the cunning questions could give your brain a nasty tackle and leave it calling for a stretcher. With a fitting Foreword by Martin Peters MBE, this veritable treasure trove is brimful of interesting facts and figures and is guaranteed to stir up fond memories of the all the highlights and lowlights that have graced the World Cup stage and have left an indelible mark on the history of football.

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