'Gods of Soccer' celebrates 100 of the world's best players

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2022

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Men in Blazers' Roger Bennett knows football – or soccer, as Americans call it. His new book, Gods of Soccer, lists 100 players who've made their mark on the sport one way or another. He tells Mary Louise Kelly about how he managed to compile that list, and why the book delves into the origin stories and cultural impact of a wide range of players – not just the Ronaldo and Messi household names, but the lesser-known figures who are iconic in their own right.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. I think we've covered on this show that I'm not the biggest sports guy, but I love listening to Sports Talk Radio when I'm taking a long drive or watching sports talking heads on ESPN at the bar, or I'll even throw on a sports podcast if I'm feeling particularly frisky.
0:22.7	That's because sports people love arguing earnestly and fervently about this thing that can
0:28.9	matter a lot and a little at the same time. Which brings us to today's guest, Roger Bennett,
0:35.4	host of the popular Men in Blazers podcast, which is
0:38.1	about soccer or, you know, football, as most of the rest of the world calls it. He's got a book out
0:43.4	called Gods of Soccer, which is about a hundred of the best soccer players. And just like,
0:49.3	listen to this guy talk about these players. He's out here in this interview with NPR's Mary
0:53.9	Louise Kelly
0:54.5	using words like Adonis, Superpower, Chainmail, and my favorite poet warrior. Do I know any of
1:03.0	the players he's talking about? Kind of. But it doesn't really matter when we're talking about
1:08.3	gods here. A lot of short daily news podcast focus on just one story.
1:13.6	But right now, you probably need more.
1:16.4	On Up First from NPR, we bring you three of the world's top headlines every day in under 15 minutes.
1:23.2	Because no one's story can capture all that's happening in this big, crazy world of ours on any
1:29.0	given morning. Listen now to the Up First podcast from NPR.
1:34.3	Soccer lovers, you know who you are. Get ready. The 2022 World Cup is nearly upon us.
1:41.3	This year's tournament kicks off next month in Qatar. It's quite a departure
1:45.4	from the usual summertime event. And here to get us in the mood for the World Cup is men
1:50.3	in Blazers host, Roger Bennett. He is also co-author of a new book called Gods of Soccer,
1:56.2	which catalogs the game's 100 greatest players ever, men and women. Roger Bennett, so good to speak to you.
2:04.7	Oh, Mary Louise Kelly, it is a joy to be with you.
2:08.4	I do love that you acknowledge right up at the front. I think it's the first page. This is your quote.
	...

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