Daniel Melamud

Experience the world s greatest sporting spectacle like never before in this extraordinary pop-up book. Bursting with energy, color, and movement, this immersive celebration of football s most iconic tournament leaps off the page. Each spread transforms into a dazzling three-dimensional scene: Wembley and the Maracana stadiums in glorious detail, a life-sized World Cup trophy, an interactive penalty shootout, celebratory fans raising the game, and legendary players who have made football history. From the first kick-off in 1930 to unforgettable finals that united billions of viewers around the globe, the story of the World Cup unfolds in spectacular pop-up form. Young-at-heart readers will delight in pulling tabs, lifting flaps, and discovering surprises hidden in every corner, while devoted fans will appreciate the wealth of details from rarely-seen referee match reports on legendary matches to personal recollections from tournament winners. With its vivid illustrations, intricate paper engineering, and engaging text, the book captures not only the game itself but also the culture, atmosphere, and passion that make the World Cup the pinnacle of global sport. A perfect gift for children, soccer enthusiasts, and collectors of unique sports memorabilia, this book is both playful and informative a keepsake that brings the joy of the beautiful game into your hands, ready to unfold again and again.

Football, or soccer as we know it in the US, has been around for more than two hundred years and in some ways remains largely unchanged. It is this timelessness that is celebrated in This Is Football. Lavishly illustrated with striking images of on-field action as well as candid dressing-room moments taken by some of the most respected photographers in sport, the book serves as both a primer and nostalgic love letter showcasing the beauty of the game. Readers will venture on a journey to South America where football became beautiful in the 1960s and to Spain where tiki-taka revolutionized the game in the 1980s. From Denis Bergkamp s sublime control and finish against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup to Sergio Aguero s last-minute strike of the 2010/2011 season winning Manchester City their first premier league title, This Is Football captures many of the game s most extraordinary events and players. Organized by player position, each chapter highlights some of the biggest names to have graced the pitch, from Pele to David Beckham and Mia Hamm to Marta as well as historic moments they helped create. Featuring extraordinary goals, inspired midfield play, heroic defending, and eye-catchingly colorful goalkeeping, this book illustrates why soccer is the most popular sport in the world and why it is truly loved by so many.

America s first true European soccer champion and the captain of the U. S. men s national team relates his journey from Hershey, Pennsylvania, to the pinnacle of world soccer. Pulisic s rise from his childhood in Pennsylvania to captain of the U. S. national team in the coming World Cup and Champions League glory is ultimately a story about a lifelong determination to realize a dream. Growing up in an area without role models, Pulisic would look to European stars for inspiration and to European soccer as his ultimate goal. In this book Pulisic talks candidly about his journey so far, revealing the extraordinary excitement of fulfilling some of his goals and the great challenges involved. He also shares experiences from behind the scenes playing for club and country, his most memorable career moments, moving to a new country without knowing the language, training drills he s used over the years to hone his skills, and his daily life as a soccer player. Photographs from his family albums and some of the world s best sports photographers document Pulisic s path from his first visit to Chelsea at age seven to signing for the club for a record transfer fee when he turned twenty to his defense of the Champions League title and preparation for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Featuring dressing-room anecdotes and heartwarming stories, this fascinating look into the world of a quiet American boy turned soccer star is the real-life story of every aspiring young American soccer player s dream and the perfect book for anyone with a passion for the beautiful game.

WINNER OF THE 2021 WISDEN BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD, this book is a celebration of the elegance and timeless beauty of cricket its greatest and most stylish players, from past heroes to today s stars, along with its idyllic and hallowed grounds. Cricket has been played for over three hundred years and in some ways remains largely unchanged. It is this timelessness, and the style and spirit in which the game is conducted, which is celebrated in This Is Cricket. The book brings together such idyllic settings as Sir Paul Getty s Ground in Buckinghamshire, U. K., surrounded by rolling countryside, with the Otago cricket ground in New Zealand set against a backdrop of mountains, as well as the sport s most hallowed pitches, including Lord s (opened by Thomas Lord in 1814) and Melbourne Cricket Ground, which hosted the first-ever International Test match in 1877. Readers will venture on a journey to the Caribbean, where the fast bowling attack of the West Indies reigned in the 1970s, and to India, where cricket soared to new heights in the 1980s. From Shane Warne s hat-trick at the MCG in 1994 to Ben Stokes s heroics at Lord s and Headingley in 2019, This Is Cricket captures many of the game s most extraordinary events and players. The striking images of on-field action as well as candid dressing-room moments, some published here for the first time, are taken by some of the most respected photographers in sport. Featuring bucolic village greens, charming pavilions, endearing team portraits, extraordinary catches, devastating bowling, heroic batting, stylish sweaters, and silly fancy dress, this book illustrates why cricket is the second most popular sport in the world and why it is truly loved by so many.