BOOK REVIEW: The Language of the Game – How to Understand Soccer
Understand the magic of the world’s most played sport through the eyes of Laurent Dubois.
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Written by Laurent Dubois, The Language of the Game: How to Understand Soccer is an excellent read for anyone who loves the beautiful game or knows someone who does. Understand the magic of the world’s most played sport through the eyes of Laurent Dubois. 
The Language of the Game: How to Understand Soccer in simple terms explains the culture of soccer, which is more than a sport.
Soccer is a game like no other, and Dubois deserves high praise for his enthusiastic and passionate prose, which describes the highs (and lows) of the World Cup and pickup games with the same fervor.
Soccer lovers once were few in the USA, but as the years have passed, Americans have awoken with a growing passion for a game that is shared without borders. Soccer can be played throughout a person’s lifetime, from when a kid can first walk and kick a ball until the crevasses of old age. The joy of soccer is even shared by people of all disabilities, and this sport truly has a language all of its own.
The Language of the Game: How to Understand Soccer also includes women’s soccer, which is all too often left out of today’s books on soccer. From Maradona and Cruyff to The Laws of the Game, this book touches on many famous names and aspects of soccer.
The book opens with the question, “What is soccer?” In the most simple terms, Dubois explains that it is a game played on a rectangle, bracketed by two goals, one at each end.
BUT IN REALITY, DUBOIS EXPLAINS THAT SOCCER IS REALLY ABOUT POSSIBILITY.
Historian and soccer scholar Dubois explains how soccer’s low scores, relentless motion, endless armchair referees and coaches, and spectacular individual performances combine to turn each match into a unique and unpredictable story.
IT IS SOCCER’S UNPREDICTABILITY THAT MAKES IT SUCH A GREAT GAME.
In The Language of the Game: How to Understand Soccer, Dubois helps us all better understand our beloved game.
One of my favorite lines is:
“IN MANY RESPECTS, THE BEST REFEREES CAN HOPE FOR IS RELATIVE INVISIBILITY.”
