Everything has two sides to it and two faces. Soccer is a love and passion of billions of people but there are also two sides just like anything else. Eduardo Galeano describes both those sides from the magical Brazilians to corrupt Italian teams in an inspirational and firm tone. Three components of this book that greatly influenced the world and the way Soccer in Sun and Shadow was written was the Brazilian soccer way, the first winners of the World Cup- the national Uruguayan team, and the people who turn soccer into a business and take the love out of it.
Uruguay was the first country to win the world cup. They had won the Olympics in the previous years. They did some unthinkable and inspirational things for the sport of soccer. No one knew where Uruguay was or who anyone of their players were. Most of their players were average workers, one was a butcher. They traveled off the wealth of one of the private citizens to the ‘28 Olympics. To describe how much the other countries knew about Uruguay, the Netherlands played the wrong anthem for them and hung their flag upside down. The ‘28 Olympics were located in Amsterdam which meant that the refs were predominantly European, most likely favoring European countries. This team of average blue collar workers ended up showing the Europeans were real soccer was located, in that tiny country they had never heard of. Uruguay demonstrated the average man beating the professionals from Europe. They showed you can win against all odds and that is a great amount of inspiration to many. Uruguay was a poor country back then and throughout the tournament their players didn’t even have beds to sleep on yet their determination helped them defeat the Europeans. Not only did Uruguay have one of the greatest upsets in Olympics but also in the World Cup. In 1950 Uruguay was playing Brazil in the final. Brazil were surely the winners for this one they massacred the previous opponents and Brazil had already made gold watches for the players saying “World Champions”. Yet Uruguay defeated them against all odds, yet again being the under dog and coming out on top. The idea of the yellow jersey for Brazil instead of white came from that loss, the worst tragedy in Brazil’s history…
I am an average man, I do not come from a wealthy family nor am I a descendent of Superman. What the Uruguayans did was provide the inspiration needed for the future generations of aspiring people hoping to achieve their dreams and goals. “ Good soccer players need not be titans sculpted by Michael Angelo”- Eduardo Galeano. The Uruguayans surely weren’t titans but their “normalness as a people” inspires the average person even more. They played beautiful soccer and showed the world that Uruguay was more than a speck on a map. They showed that David truly can beat Goliath!! All that the Uruguayans did enforces in mind that they were the most important component in this book and one of the most important influences in the history of soccer and life in general.
“To win without magic, surprise, or beauty- isn’t that worse than losing?”- Eduardo Galeano. This quote absolutely describes Brazilian soccer. It was there where the Brazilians improved upon the English game. They play with a sense of magic and passion as if the game was the Samba itself, dancing around their opponents. They have won 5 world cups the most in history, one more than Italy. They may have bred the greatest soccer star of all time, Pele. Pele from the club Santos is undoubtedly and unanimously the best that has ever lived. He made fools of defenders and started playing when he was 16. Between the years of 1950-1970 Brazil may have had the greatest teams ever. They won two world cups during that period. Playing on this team was Garrincha, Jairizinho, Pele, Zaza, and Didi. These were stars and leaders, helping to lead their country to victory yet again and show which country was the best. Garrincha was one of the most inspirational players to ever hit the soccer stage. Garrincha was the name his brothers had given him because it was the name of an ugly useless bird. Garrincha was born with a deformed spine, a right leg bent inwards, his left leg six centimeters shorter than his right which also curved outward yet all those defects never kept him from playing beautifully. Garrincha is considered the second best, maybe the best Brazilian and player of all time. Jairizinho another great is ranked 24th in the 100 greatest soccer stars with Pele 1st.
There are two sides to every story. Managers revolve their teams around defensive tactics now a days to win. TO WIN! WIN WIN WIN! “Professional soccer, ever more rapid, less beautiful, has tended to become a game of speed and strength fueled by the fear of losing”- Eduardo Galeano. They take the joy out of the game and force their players to play loading them with mysterious pills and other supplements. Numerous teams from Europe were caught doping their players to keep exhaustion away from them. Fifty years ago it was uncommon for a game to end 0-0. Now a days it isn’t much of a surprise… Where is the joy in a 0-0 tie?
People turn soccer into a business, they don’t care about the players or magic but about the money. The 1990 World Cup was to be played in the afternoon summer heat of MEXICO! Yes dry and barren it affected how the players played greatly. They did this because then the game would be broadcasted during the nighttime in Europe! Madness! They cared more about the income of money from television than the level of play! Many players and others protested this greed including Maradona and I commend him and all the others that did because it was wrong! If you truly love soccer you don’t care what time you have to watch it at! I would much rather watch a great match at midnight than an ok match played at six!
Conclusively, you see there is a sun and shadow to soccer which Eduardo Galeano informed me of while I read his book. There are two sides to EVERYTHING! Uruguay, Brazil, and greedy men were important components to this book and greatly influenced soccer in it’s history as well as the modern times. I love soccer and this book gives the sport a flare of passion and inspiration! The tone of the author was fluent and powerful which is why this book has given me an even greater sense of purpose, one of the reasons it is one of my favorite books I’ve ever read…
