Although soccer had long been the world's game when Michael J. Agovino first encountered it in 1982, here it was just a poor cousin to American football, to be found on obscure UHF channels and in foreign magazines. But as Agovino himself passionately pursued soccer, Americans got wise and turned it into one of the most popular sports in the country. Agovino's love affair with soccer is a portrait of the game's culture and an intimate history of the sport's coming of age in the United States.

Agovino's quest takes him from the unkempt field in the Bronx where he taught himself to play to some of the sport's most storied venues and historic matches. With Agovino we travel from school fields to Giants Stadium, then from England to Germany, Italy, and Spain, along the way taking in the final days of the North American Soccer League, the 1994 World Cup, and the birth of Major League Soccer. Offering the perspective of fan, player, and journalist, Agovino chronicles his obsession with the sport and its phenomenal evolution.

About the Author
Michael J. Agovino is the author of The Bookmaker: A Memoir of Money, Luck, and Familyfrom the Utopian Outskirts of New York City.

Reviews
"An intimate and wonderfully written account of a sport that is increasingly shaking America's soul out."-Colum McCann, author of the National Book Award winner Let the Great World Spin and Dancer
"An always-readable, always-engaging journey through the life of a football-mad New Yorker. . . . Truly fascinating."-Andi Thomas, SB Nation


"A funny and affecting account of one American's stubborn embrace of soccer."-Esquire
"A gripping narrative . . . offering insights into the growth of soccer's popularity in America."-Souvik Naha, Journal of Sport History

"Here is a delightful, briskly readable memoir of sports obsession that deftly cuts across decades and cultures-with one manic, maddening, miraculous sport at its center."-Hampton Sides, best-selling author of Ghost Soldiers and Blood and Thunder
"More than just one man's thirty-year obsession with the sport, The Soccer Diaries is also the American odyssey of the sport itself. The Soccer Diaries is the incredible journey of the beautiful game over the last three decades. And it's an education for even the most fanatical of supporters."-David Peace, author of The Damned Utd and Red or Dead
"[The Soccer Diaries] offers more than an insightful account of American soccer's evolution over the past three decades-it also hits a chord with anyone who's enjoyed meeting fascinating characters at pickup games, who's discovered new friends and previously unfamiliar cultures through soccer, and experienced the emotional roller-coaster of soccer fandom."-Mike Woitalla, Soccer America Daily
"Agovino's passion rings clear throughout this well-written book. . . . Soccer has taken its place in the American sporting constellation in no small part due to fans and writers like Agovino."-Kirkus Reviews

"A thoughtful and enjoyable narrative of his passion for the game"-Keir Graff, Booklist
"Introspective, perceptive, and intelligent, and it masterfully blends single-event snapshots into narrative mosaics in a way that echoes Nick Hornby's canonical Fever Pitch . . . . Well written and engaging, Agovino's text is a valuable addition to a burgeoning American soccer canon that will continue to grow with the sport's popularity."-Matthew Tettleton, Aethlon: Journal of Sports Literature




Book Information
ISBN 9780803240476
Author Michael J. Agovino
Format Hardback
Page Count 312
Imprint University of Nebraska Press
Publisher University of Nebraska Press