As the world gears-up for another quadrennial ‘circus’ known as the World Cup, Jorge Knijnik looks back at the 2014 World Cup in his home country of Brazil, and unveils and enlightens us all at once.
For the people of Brazil, the 2014 World Cup was not just a football tournament. It was intrinsically wrapped in every part of the national psyche; its history, its diversity and economic and political structures.
The World Cup Chronicles looks at before, during and after the World Cup and discusses the much-vaunted ‘legacy’ issues to which FIFA has always pointed as being what they give back to a nation.
In the words of Luis Guilherme Piva, Brazilian economist and political scientist:
“As I read through all chapters of this excellent book, my views over Brazil and football have been reinforced: football has never defined Brazil’s arguably single identity and culture; instead, as regarded and described by Jorge Knijnik, it is Brazil as a country, with its diversity, its difficulties, its qualities and its challenges that gives to football its uniqueness as a sport. Brazil is football’s own particular country.”
