Reading Rainbow Kick: Soccer Against The Enemy

UF is attempting to take you on a reading rainbow kick this summer. Requests have been made previously to provide book reviews for the various books about soccer out there, but we have been negligent in responding to those requests. No longer. UF hopes provide all of the readers with some additions to their summer reading lists.

Simon Kuper’s Soccer Against the Enemy is an outstanding book about soccer around the globe. Not just the well-known and well-paid, but the obscure and lesser earning soccer players around. More than that, Kuper provides great detail about the footballing world off the pitch. Against the Enemy is a fascinating read well worth any soccer fan’s time this summer.

Simon Kuper wrote Against the Enemy over fifteen years ago, while just in his early 20s, yet his writing evidenced a maturity and understanding beyond his years. Kuper traveled in a world far different, politically, socially and technologically, than the world today. Yet, his insights and stories then remain insightful and salient today, despite the differences in the times the issues are still similar.

Against the Enemy details, chapter-by-chapter, Kuper’s journeys to points around the globe examining the intersection of soccer and politics. Whereas Franklin Foer’s book, How Soccer Explains The World, attempted to show how soccer explained politics in various regions of the world, Kuper has a more practical examination of how soccer is affected by politics and used, as it were, against the "enemy." The former is a much more difficult theoretical jump because soccer, of course, cannot explain all politics and at times the facts will not fit in a neat box. Kuper’s work is deductive rather than Foer’s inductive work.

Although 15 years old, Kuper’s chapter on South Africa is particularly relevant today because of the historical and political perspective it places on World Cup 2010. When Against the Enemy was written South Africa was just emerging from apartheid. For the black population soccer was very important during apartheid and the World Cup was the holy grail for black South Africans and next year, while Aaron Mokoena likely will not raise the Jules Rimet Trophy next year, the country will finally bring the World Cup to South Africa. Kuper’s writing captures the import wonderfully with historical perspective and anecdotes. Truly a must read before next year.

In 2006, Kuper wrote an additional chapter delving into “terrorism” and soccer. The chapter lacks the detail, personalness, and original information of Kuper’s original writings. It provides only the droll stories about Osama bin Laden being a fan of Arsenal. Nothing new or noteworthy. However, the original work stands the test of time and is well worth your time.

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