"Jorge Knijnik leads us to consider grand issues. Along the way, though, he tells the fascinating stories of the coaches and players who have made Brazilian soccer such an iconic phenomenon, as well as the stadiums in which they have performed (and those in which very few people will ever perform again) and the powerful figures who oversaw the decline of "the nation of football" so sadly apparent in the 7-1 loss. Most of all, Jorge focuses on common people of his home country, introducing us to women and men who battle great odds to make Brazil serve its population more justly. The vivid commitment they show, with a vibrant mixture of optimism and practicality, runs through these pages, echoing the author's own passionate take on the nation of his birth and, with any luck, inspiring similar feelings in all those who read this remarkable book."

Roger Kittleson, Professor of History, Williams College, Connecticut USA

"As I read through all chapters of this excellent book, my views over Brazil and football have been reinforced: football has never defined Brazil's arguably single identity and culture; instead, as regarded and described by Jorge Knijnik, it is Brazil as a country, with its diversity, its difficulties, its qualities and its challenges that gives to football its uniqueness as a sport. Brazil is football's own particular country."

Luiz Guilherme Piva, Brazilian economist and political scientist