Love and Blood: At the World Cup with the Footballers, Fans, and Freaks

I enjoyed this book as much as Bill Buford's "Among the Thugs." It's the same mix of humor, first-person observation, and mini-history lessons, all woven together in a breezy, entertaining style. A lot of "Love & Blood" focuses on off-the-pitch fan activity in bars, train stations, public squares, and more. This is not a book simply about which countries won/lost the games in Germany. Trecker also makes some valid points about the absurd over-commodification and corporatization that the World Cup has become (like every other major sporting event on the globe.) Some reviewers here have found the tone of this book too negative, but having a spotlight on the BS is essential to understanding the event as a whole, and Trecker does it with a sense of humor.

In "Love & Blood" Jamie Trecker describes events involving the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Along the way the reader is introduced to players, coaches, officials, journalists and fans that had a part in the events of that summer. As a novice soccer fan I enjoyed the stories about the various personalities involved, the rabid fans, and I particularly enjoyed Mr. Trecker's descriptions of the venues for the 2002 cup and his wanderings in Germany during the summer of 2006. I did enjoy "Love & Blood," but I have serious reservations about recommending it for two reasons. First, I'm afraid that true soccer fans have probably heard many of anecdotes concerning players and the 2006 matches before. Secondly, Mr. Trecker's writing has a very negative tone to it. He rants on FIFA officials throughout the book and spends time also railing on specific players, coaches, fans, his fellow journalists, and his accommodations. Some of this whining was for comic effect, but all the negativity began to wear me down after 200 pages.

I had no grasp of how little I knew of US Soccer, much less the world cup, until reading Trecker's book. It is a "stay up all night 'cause it's so engaging" flight through the politics, sociology, finance, underbelly and countless freaks which color the world football stage. It doesn't just tell the story (and it does, with great entertainment value); it gives you an understanding of all the forces behind the story, and why it matters.

I haven't followed soccer since playing it as a kid, but Trecker instantly drew me into not just the game, but the scene. Starting with the Introduction (2002 World Cup), and driving straight through the aftermath of the 2006 World Cup, you get incredible camera angle after camera angle showing what's important on the field, off the field, and why. The World Cup doesn't happen in a vacuum. They're all four years in the making, and most every every player has a day-job for some other club. Trecker shares the back-stories that helped me understand the headlines and commotion around the 2006 World Cup. That is, however, the least of the book's accomplishments. As with all great writing, this book gave me pause--threw me into reflection, sent my thoughts spinning. As I read, I had moments where I was shuddering to suppress laughter inappropriate for my surroundings. At other times, I let the book fall into my lap as I considered, for instance, the social implications of suddenly liberating a repressed female society with not just public independence, but with anonymity... This is an exciting book, a sometimes incendiary book, but also a deeply thoughtful book that's much more than the coverage of a World Cup, or two. Balancing personal to the point of confessional with the most analytic investigative journalism, Trecker's narrative is unvarnished, compassionate, insightful, and always from the hip. His recounting of matches is often thrilling, and the history is informative, but the real treasure is his depiction and analysis of both the context and personalities of the World Cup--ultimately illustrating that in various measure we are all footballers, fans, and freaks.