Soccer Empire

by Dubois, Laurent

• ISBN13: 9780520259287
• ISBN10: 0520259289
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

When France both hosted and won the World Cup in 1998, the face of its star player, Zinedine Zidane, the son of Algerian immigrants, was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe. During the 2006 World Cup finals, Zidane stunned the country by ending his spectacular career with an assault on an Italian player. InSoccer Empire, Laurent Dubois illuminates the connections between empire and sport by tracing the story of World Cup soccer, from the Cup's French origins in the 1930s to Africa and the Caribbean and back again. As he vividly recounts the lives of two of soccer's most electrifying players, Zidane and his outspoken teammate, Lilian Thuram, Dubois deepens our understanding of the legacies of empire that persist in Europe and brilliantly captures the power of soccer to change the nation and the world.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. xi
Preface: Scoring Spirits	p. xiii
Introduction: The Language of Happiness	p. 1
A Beautiful Harvest	p. 23
Caribbean France	p. 47
Crossings	p. 72
Roots	p. 97
Two Goals	p. 118
Two Flags	p. 133
La France Métissée	p. 154
An Unfinished War	p. 177
Reconciliation	p. 198
Burn	p. 214
Coup de Boule	p. 241
Epilogue: Returns	p. 267
Notes	p. 275
Acknowledgments	p. 313
Index	p. 317
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