¡Golazo!

Perfection, pride, politics and punch-ups. The South American way of football has never been more readable. -- John Crace * Guardian *
Extra­ordinarily ambitious. -- Jonathan Wilson * New Statesman *
A compelling account of how football became a force in Latin America with an impact far beyond the pitch, helping forge national identity and fuelling regional rivalries. -- Chris Maume * Independent *
Campomar effectively brings out the colour and passion for the game, its evocative language, its artistic power and its sometimes-martial ugliness . . . Fine, scintillating history. * Kirkus *
This year's World Cup has inspired a number of notable books, among them ¡Golazo! by Andreas Campomar. -- Richard Williams * Guardian *
Absorbing and entertaining. * Literary Review *
Lively history . . . Perfectly timed. * Sport *
Gripping social history. * Daily Telegraph *
¡Golazo! is a timely, intelligent and entertaining account of the development of football in Latin America . . . this is a readable and incisive history, a "serious" football book . . . the main strength of ¡Golazo! lies in the way its perspective extends to the politics - real and mythologised - that lie beyond the sport. -- Jimmy Burns * Tablet *
A fascinating read. * Sunday Mirror *
A celebration of this beautiful play and more a chronicle of how sport, politics and culture have intersected and influenced each other across the region. * Economist *
The best two books I've come across recently on the craze around the World Cup in Brazil from a Latin American viewpoint are in English: Andreas Campomar's Golazo, on how soccer built Latin America in general, and Goldblatt's Futebol Nation, about how Brazilians can't think about anything else, even when they try. -- Ilan Stavans * New Republic *
Comprehensive. -- Simon Kuper * Financial Times *
[A] sweeping exploration of soccer intersecting with politics, history, economics and culture in forging a continent's passion. -- Steven Goff * Washington Post *
[Campomar] makes this case throughout, always keeping an eye on the global context of the sport. The scale of this book is essentially high level . . . Golazo! is an enlightening, lively work, one that never shortchanges the sport or the nations at its heart. * Barnes & Noble Review *
A splendid history of Latin American football on both the continent and the international stage . . . This is football writing at its very best, epic on the pitch, socially aware off it. * Huffington Post *
Brilliant . . . [an] excellent study of football. -- Mihir Bose * Inside World Football *
Recounting the history of the South American game, with all its social and political backdrops, is some task - but Campomar achieves it in style . . . Government coups, gun-touting refs . . . it's all here. -- ***** [five stars] * FourFourTwo *