History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game

This is a remarkable feat, a obvious labor of love, and if you're from England it's probably heaven on earth.If you're not from England, you may weary a bit from the rather relentless Anglo-centric viewpoint, but hey--they put it together, they're entitled to their own focus.As with any project as long as this, some parts fail to impress. The significant amount of time spent on the development of the game in India and on the African continent was (IMO) a little too much. Interesting to see once...but not something I'd likely share with my soccer friends. ("Hey! You've got to see this 30 minute segment on how political and sociological conditions in Ghana influenced the selection of the national team during the 1990's!")But there is a great deal here that approaches the magnificent. It was worth half the price of the whole package just to see the interview with Maradona where he mocks (MOCKS!) Peter Shilton for the hand-of-God goal. A classic!In fact the segment on South America (mostly Argentina and Uruguay) was flat-out excellent...followed by an entire hour devoted just to Brazil, with wonderful footage from the '56 World Cup that marked the emergence of Pele at the age of 17.One unavoidable problem with the disc is that this "history" gets older every year. This was put together just after the 1998 WC--a debacle for the United States. When talking about developing soccer countries, the USA isn't mentioned once. Instead, we have Hugo Chavez from Mexico complaining about how "sure we're the best in North America--but so what? We never get to play anybody good!" Grrrrr.If you buy this, here's what to expect (the good and bad):1. Nothing but a few dismissive yawns towards the USA--appropriate in 1998, but wildly inaccurate now.2. Everything you've ever wanted to know about the various incarnations of the English national side.3. Wonderful analysis and history of football in South America.4. A genuinely interesting analysis of the struggles between club teams and national teams, and how players can be caught between them.5. Lots of interesting video of some of the first cup competitions in Europe, that follows the development of teams in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia (as it was called at the tme) and more.6. An objective view of the problems of hooliganism (and a commendable willingness to place the blame largely on England, where it belongs.)7. More than you wanted to know about football in India.8. A lengthy and more-or-less interesting history of the bureaucracy known as FIFA.9. The sense that the folks who put this together sincerely love the game.As you watch it all, you'll love it to.

The production quality is pretty good for the first several episodes, but it leaves so much to be desired with regard to team strategy, transfer markets, player development, and other specific phenomena of modern soccer. For example, I would've loved an entire episode dedicated to soccer academies, youth teams, etc. There's just a lot about soccer that you won't find here, but I don't know of any other dvd series that comes close, which is a crying shame.

From a global perspective, this documentary series has a glaring omission; it failed to give the viewers the development of soccer in the Oceanic region. If only this documentary had mentioned about the absolute dominance of soccer in New Zealand and other Oceanic countries (in the confederation of Oceania), this DVD would truly be called a compendium of international soccer. Its failure to mention the confederation of Oceania (a common occurrence in soccer literature as well!) and the development of the game in that region shows us that FIFA and soccer commentaries and journalists have still a long way to go before being truly global in their perception of this beautiful game. In fact, one of the producers, Guy Oliver (author of the classic encyclopedic book " The Guinness Book of World Soccer ") repeats this same mistake in this series. Soccer is NOT ONLY about the winners and famous soccer nations and clubs. The soul of this mesmerizing sport lies with the smaller clubs and obscure soccer nations such as Aruba, Mongolia, Vanuatu and Bhutan. Thus with a heavy heart, I am forced to give this documentary a 4-star rating and not a perfect 5 stars.However, I really enjoyed watching this 14-hour series about world soccer. It gives the viewers a comprehensive detail about the history of this sport and the reasons for its immense popularity around the globe. It shows us every goal scored in a World Cup Final match and gives a detailed history of this sport in the USA, Brazil, Argentina, England and other top footballing European soccer nations. It even gives us the development of the game in China and India (potential World cup winning nations in the far fetched future) and shows us the future development of the game in the world.Every famous soccer player was interviewed (the interview with Maradona was ESPECIALLY interesting and comical!) and the history of famous clubs are also being brought to light. Soccer tragedies are also being narrated and there is also a brief commentary about soccer hooliganism as well. The description of the political climate of some of the soccer nations (such as Sudan and Ghana) provides the fan an enjoyable slight deviation from the main theme.In conclusion I would recommend this DVD to all passionate soccer fans. However, those who are interested in the minute details and facts about soccer, would not find anything new in this documentary.

He really loves soccer. Loved the gift.

Très déçue de ce produit, acheter pour offrir en cadeau a mon père et TOUS les disques sont rayés dans l'emballage.Produit qui finira a la poubelle malheureusement

I got this for my fiance and he loves them!What else can you say about classic football.You can easily sit and watch every single DVD in a row = )

Product as described, fair price, fast shipping, quite a positive experience overall!

My son loved it. He is a huge soccer fan and loved watching all the history of the sport. Worthwhile purchase