How to Watch Soccer Like a Genius - by Nick Greene (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From the author of How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius, a brilliant deconstruction of the most popular sport in the world, publishing ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America

On the surface, soccer seems like the simplest of games: one ball, two teams, two goals, and (preferably) some grass. There's a reason it's the first team sport little kids learn to play.

But the closer you look, the more you plumb the game's history, the more infinitely complex the picture becomes. Nick Greene, author of the celebrated How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius, is a man who knows how to look closer than most, especially when he pulls in a wide range of experts to help. In How to Watch Soccer Like a Genius, Greene calls on a turf manager, an expert on color theorist, and a landscape historian to understand the field itself, a paleoanthropologist to talk kicking, and an Anglican priest to explain schisms--how American football, soccer, and rugby could all develop from the field games of rowdy 19th century British schoolboys. Greene delves deep into what defines the game, how it developed, and what happens during a match's 90 minutes (and then some). With insight from a domino toppler, a developmental neuroscientist, an art historian, a civil engineer, and more, you'll never look at soccer the same way again.

Review Quotes

"From mutant fruit flies to penalty shoot-outs and the structure of the atom, Nick Greene's book explores the backstories of soccer and shows how the game is connected to . . . well, almost everything. Perceptive, witty, philosophical, and stylish. A delight."
-- "DAVID WINNER, author of Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer"

About the Author

Nick Greene is the author of How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius. His work has appeared in Slate, the Washington Post, and Chicago magazine. He lives in Berkeley, California.