Ernie Brandts of the Netherlands scored a goal for each team and injured his own goalkeeper in a 1978 World Cup match against Italy. Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler was suspended for four games and fined for pretending to snort the white chalk endline while celebrating a goal. In 1970, after El Salvador defeated Honduras in a World Cup qualifying match, the two countries severed diplomatic relations, and a four-day “Soccer War” broke out, in which more than 10,000 people died. A 1995 match in South Africa between the host Moroka Swallows and the Qwa Qwa Stars was delayed after the visiting team accused the host of using magical powers against them. Soccer's Most Wanted™ features the most outrageous players, the oddest injuries, the strangest matches, the most fantastic finishes, the greatest champions, and the most inept teams. In short, it covers the best and worst moments in the history of world soccer. Die-hard fans as well as newcomers to the sport will enjoy this irreverent guide to soccer trivia.

Soccer is the world’s game, more popular than any other sport. Fans fill stadia, and players strive to perform at the highest levels for them. Soccer’s Most Wanted™ II presents more of the best and brightest, funniest and freakiest, and the highs and lows of soccer. It highlights the crazy incidents and interesting bits of trivia that have helped make soccer (football to the rest of the globe) the most-watched sport on the planet. Everyone remembers the World Cup winners, but what about the best teams who fell just short? And what about the great players who never got to appear on the world stage? Then there is the burgeoning American game, thanks to the steady progress of Major League Soccer and the strides made by the country’s respective national teams. Jeff Carlisle presents all that and more in fifty top-ten lists chock full of entertaining stories. He covers strange injuries, bizarre bookings, and some of the more colorful feuds worldwide. He discusses the greatest players to travel from the MLS to overseas and lambastes the biggest flops who came to MLS assuming glory and fell flat on their faces. He covers European leagues and players too, from the EPL to Serie A and everything in between. Through it all he presents the game as only a true follower can, with an expertise gained through years of coverage. Soccer’s Most Wanted™ II brings the beautiful game to life!

Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first World Series with The World Series Most Wanted M/i>. You'll find fascinating facts, oddball tales, and record-breaking achievements from that initial World Series between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates all the way up to the 2003 World Series. The next in a long line of vaunted Most Wanted books from Potomac. THE The World Series Most Wanted tells the tale of October glory and heartbreak, of heroes and goats, and of the thin line between success and failure on baseball's grandest stage. With a hopping sixty top-ten lists.

Dive into amusing Olympic moments both high and low

Jesse James Hollywood grew up in L.A.'s upscale West Hills with every imaginable privilege. By the age of 19, he owned a spacious house, a tricked-out car, a closet full of designer clothes. His lifestyle of drinking, partying and getting high was bankrolled by his chosen career: drug dealing. In 2000, Ben Markowitz, another teen from a 'good family', found himself with a dope tab he couldn't pay. A standoff between dealer and druggie exploded when Hollywood, along with William Skidmore and Jesse Rugge, both 20, spotted Ben's brother, Nick, 15, walking near his parents' home. Witnesses saw the three men attack Nick, then shove him into a van and drive off. But assault and kidnapping were only the beginning... On the last night of Nick's life, he was taken to an isolated area outside Santa Barbara known as the Lizard's Mouth. There, he was shot to death and buried in a shallow grave. But the story was far from over. Because mastermind Jesse James, like his namesake, knew how to run and hide. With his handsome face at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list, he lived in luxury until the long arm of the law reached out to pull him back home for justice...

All-American George Glamack was known as the "Blind Bomber" because his eyesight was so poor that he couldn’t see the basket. Bobby Bailey once fouled out of a game in three minutes. The first professional basketball player, Fred Cooper, earned sixteen dollars per game. Swedish player Mats Wermelin scored all 272 points in a game. Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach punched out the owner of the St. Louis Hawks prior to a game. Dennis Rodman dressed like a bride for his book signing. Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points in an NBA game, claimed to have had 20,000 lovers. The 1936 Olympic basketball gold medal game was played on a muddy court during a driving rainstorm. Former vice president Al Gore played college basketball at Harvard. Basketball's Most Wanted™ chronicles 700 of the most outlandish players, coaches, and fans in basketball history. Its seventy lists describe in humorous detail basketball’s top-ten worst shooters, strangest plays, bizarre nicknames, politicians who played, little-known records, unlikely NBA teams, and more.

All over the world, soccer is known as "the Beautiful Game" and is the most popular sport. But in the United States, professional soccer still has a hard time catching on. It has had some successes here. The American Soccer League of the 1920s, Pélé and other international stars in the North American Soccer League's glamorous 1970s, the indoor soccer phenomenon of the 1980s, and the U.S. women's win in the Women's World Cup of 1999 all hinted that the American public is ready to embrace pro soccer. In its short history, Major League Soccer (MLS) has survived and even started to thrive, drawing steady crowds and loyal fans. In Long-Range Goals, Beau Dure profiles teams and players, including D.C. United, the Los Angeles Galaxy, Landon Donovan, Freddy Adu, and Coach Bruce Arena, who are all vital to MLS. Some of the triumphs include an expansion of the league and its ownership group, the contribution of MLS players to a strong U.S. World Cup showing in 2002, and the construction of soccer stadiums nationwide. At the same time, MLS has occasionally stumbled, during costly legal battles with players and seeing two teams fold, but its investors have remained strong, figured out how to make money, and support the league. From the league's formation in 1993 to the David Beckham era, this book reveals all the action on and off the pitch: the politics, the lawsuits, the management of its teams, and the savvy business deals that helped MLS rebound. It also revels in the big personalities of its stars, the grace of its utility players, and the obstacles the league faces in meeting its long-range goals.

Visit the Old Country!

Soccer is much more than just the most popular game in the world. It is a matter of life and death for millions around the world, an international lingua franca. Simon Kuper traveled to twenty-two countries to discover the sometimes bizarre effect soccer can have on politics and culture. At the same time he tried to discover what makes different countries play a simple game so differently. Kuper meets a remarkable variety of fans along the way, from the East Berliner persecuted by the Stasi for supporting his local team, to the Argentine general with his own views on tactics. He also illuminates the frightening intersection between soccer and politics, particularly in the wake of the attacks of 9-11, where soccer is obsessed over by the likes of Osama bin Laden. The result is one of the world's most acclaimed books on the game, and an astonishing study of soccer and its place in the world.

The Real Giants of Soccer Coaching is a collection of the curated thoughts of nearly 30 top soccer coaches from around the globe. In this book, you will gain access to the depth and breadth of experience from some of the best coaches across all areas of the beautiful game: from grassroots to premier leagues and everything in between. You will learn theoretical details about tactical periodization, positional play, and the science of motor learning. You will also learn from Youth National Team coaches, NCAA National Championship winning coaches, and First Division coaches from top European clubs. This book is a resource that can direct your coaching education over and around the perilous pitfalls that often consume most coaches. After reading this book, you will have gained the experience, knowledge, and wisdom of some of the best coaches across all areas of the game. You don't have to go your coaching path alone. Take this book and bring the wisdom of these top coaches with you to help navigate every corner, turn, and hazard along your way to becoming a great coach.