Overview
Este libro revela la parte inesperada, insólita y hasta brutal del fútbol. Sus páginas recorren camerinos, concentraciones, tribunas y noches de estadio para recordarnos que lo más increíble del juego no siempre pasa en el área de las dieciocho.
Aparece un Neymar adolescente, amarrado a un árbol y atacado por hormigas. Un seleccionado noruego candidato al título del mundo que se entrena en Manizales. Una estrella de Camerún que atraviesa fronteras sin plan ni sello en el pasaporte. Un joven Óscar Córdoba que le regala a René Higuita un suéter azul que terminará convertido en capa de superhéroe en la final de la Libertadores. Un Faustino Asprilla que, en plena semifinal de un torneo europeo, debe salir corriendo a una estación de policía: su padre está detenido. Un arquero que se desploma en la cancha y deja al estadio en silencio.
Son historias de artistas, genios y criminales; cracks que pasan de ídolos a fugitivos, caídos en desgracia que acaban en duelos callejeros a puñal; carreras de grandes figuras que quedaron a merced de los caprichos del poder y las dictaduras.
En cada episodio, Samper dibuja, con humor negro, un mapa de rarezas, sin perder de vista las grandes épicas que ocurrieron gracias a casualidades y giros repentinos, y recordándonos que el fútbol es "la dinámica de lo impensado", como dijo Dante Panzeri.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
This book reveals the unexpected, unusual, and even brutal side of soccer. Its pages take us through locker rooms, training camps, stands, and nights at the stadium to remind us that the most incredible moments of the game don’t always happen in the penalty area.
We encounter a teenage Neymar, tied to a tree and attacked by ants. A Norwegian national team, a contender for the world title, training in Manizales. A Cameroonian star crossing borders without a plan or a stamp in his passport. A young Óscar Córdoba who gives René Higuita a blue sweater that will eventually become a superhero cape in the Libertadores final. A Faustino Asprilla who, in the middle of a European tournament semifinal, has to rush off to a police station: his father has been arrested. A goalkeeper who collapses on the field, leaving the stadium in silence.
These are stories of artists, geniuses, and criminals; stars who go from idols to fugitives, fallen figures who end up in street knife fights; the careers of great figures left at the mercy of the whims of power and dictatorships.
In each episode, Samper sketches, with dark humor, a map of oddities, without losing sight of the great epics that unfolded thanks to coincidences and sudden twists, and reminding us that soccer is “the dynamics of the unthinkable,” as Dante Panzeri said.
Aparece un Neymar adolescente, amarrado a un árbol y atacado por hormigas. Un seleccionado noruego candidato al título del mundo que se entrena en Manizales. Una estrella de Camerún que atraviesa fronteras sin plan ni sello en el pasaporte. Un joven Óscar Córdoba que le regala a René Higuita un suéter azul que terminará convertido en capa de superhéroe en la final de la Libertadores. Un Faustino Asprilla que, en plena semifinal de un torneo europeo, debe salir corriendo a una estación de policía: su padre está detenido. Un arquero que se desploma en la cancha y deja al estadio en silencio.
Son historias de artistas, genios y criminales; cracks que pasan de ídolos a fugitivos, caídos en desgracia que acaban en duelos callejeros a puñal; carreras de grandes figuras que quedaron a merced de los caprichos del poder y las dictaduras.
En cada episodio, Samper dibuja, con humor negro, un mapa de rarezas, sin perder de vista las grandes épicas que ocurrieron gracias a casualidades y giros repentinos, y recordándonos que el fútbol es "la dinámica de lo impensado", como dijo Dante Panzeri.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
This book reveals the unexpected, unusual, and even brutal side of soccer. Its pages take us through locker rooms, training camps, stands, and nights at the stadium to remind us that the most incredible moments of the game don’t always happen in the penalty area.
We encounter a teenage Neymar, tied to a tree and attacked by ants. A Norwegian national team, a contender for the world title, training in Manizales. A Cameroonian star crossing borders without a plan or a stamp in his passport. A young Óscar Córdoba who gives René Higuita a blue sweater that will eventually become a superhero cape in the Libertadores final. A Faustino Asprilla who, in the middle of a European tournament semifinal, has to rush off to a police station: his father has been arrested. A goalkeeper who collapses on the field, leaving the stadium in silence.
These are stories of artists, geniuses, and criminals; stars who go from idols to fugitives, fallen figures who end up in street knife fights; the careers of great figures left at the mercy of the whims of power and dictatorships.
In each episode, Samper sketches, with dark humor, a map of oddities, without losing sight of the great epics that unfolded thanks to coincidences and sudden twists, and reminding us that soccer is “the dynamics of the unthinkable,” as Dante Panzeri said.
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