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Forza Italia: A Journey in Search of Italy and its Football | 
 enlarge | Author: Paddy Agnew
Publisher: Ebury Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $12.02
You Save: $7.93 (40%)
New (25) Used (8) from $11.64
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 422613
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 0091905613
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9780091905613
ASIN: 0091905613
Publication Date: October 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
For the first time, Paddy Agnew lifts the lid on Italian football, reflecting on 20 years of Italian living through 'calcio' - the native word for all things football. When he and his girlfriend Dympna touched down in Rome in 1985, in search of adventure, sunshine and the soul of Italian football (well, Paddy was looking for that), they were travelling into the uncharted terrain of a country, they did not know and a language they did not speak. It soon became clear that neither Italy nor Italian football would be boring. In that first week in Italy, Michel Platini and Juventus won the Intercontinental Cup, whilst just days later the PLO killed 13 people in a random shooting at Rome's Fiumicino airport. Paddy covered both stories. Within two months of Paddy's arrival, TV tycoon Silvio Berlusconi bought debt-ridden AC Milan. Enmeshing the people's love of football with his own political ambitions, Berlusconi was to propel himself all the way to the Prime Minister's office. Berlusconi named his political party 'Forza Italia' after a football chant, whilst the party MPs were known as the 'azzurri', just like Italian international footballers. In that same period, Argentine Diego Maradona was the uncrowned King of Naples, leading Napoli to a first ever scudetto title in 1987, not withstanding a hectic, Hollywood-type lifestyle that mixed footballing genius with bad company of the organised criminal type. From Maradona to Shevchenko and from Platini to Totti, "Calcio" is a fascinating tale of inspired players, skilled coaches, rich tycoons, glitzy media coverage, Mafia corruption, drug scandals and fan power. It is also a personalised reflection on the consistent and continuing excellence of Italian football throughout a period of huge social, political and economic upheaval. "Calcio" offers a unique insight into a society, where football has always been much more than just a game.
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| Customer Reviews:
Corruption???? I'm shocked, shocked to find corruption! July 9, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Good primer on Italian football. The chapters on Maradona and the author's life in a small village outside of Rome are fascinating.
The author is at his best when he follows the career of a goalkeeper who played exactly 7 minutes in Serie A (the top league in Italian football) after toiling in the lower leagues for years. As the author points out, everyone wants to interview the Zidanes of the world but no one cares about interviewing the backup goalkeeper. However, the reality is that most of the players who play professionally are not the glamorous stars. Bravo to the author for telling us about the life of one of the pedestrian players.
The book spends a substantial amount of time detailing the corruption in Italian Football (although the book was published before the latest scandal involving referee fixing by Juventus and several other big clubs; the author does indicate that referee fixing was rumored). The picture he paints isn't pretty. However, the last few chapters on corruption feel a little tacked on - as if an editor told the author he needed to detail the corruption to make the book complete. Despite this flaw, the book is worth the read if you want a good first book on Italian football.
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