White Angels: Beckham, Real Madrid & the New Football. John Carlin

by JohnCarlin (Author)

• New

  Paperback
  2005

  $22.47

  The world over, no sportsman - and maybe no other individual - provokes more fascination, argument and interest than the Londoner with the film-star looks, David Beckham. No sports team exudes more glamour, has won more competitions or possesses a more dazzling collection of superstars than Real Madrid. The fusion of the two has gripped the attention of millions and changed the face of the world's favourite sport, making a clear divide between the Old Football and the New. White Angels is the insider's look at what happened to make the historic deal. John Carlin has had unprecedented access to the Real Madrid team, travelling with them to matches and conducting extensive interviews with the players and its charismatic and driven chairman Florentino Perez. White Angels describes how Beckham's transfer took place, and the machinations and intrigue behind it. It details Beckham's first year at Real, and how he fared on the field alongside such global stars as Figo, Zidane, Carlos, Raul and Ronaldo.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $5.12

  Beyond race, faith, politics, class, sex or age, football is the great global religion. One of the most striking phenomena of the early 21st century is how the popularity of the game the British invented 150 years ago has exploded, attracting millions of new devotees. Women everywhere are flocking to the game, as are the hitherto pagan peoples of China, Japan and the United States. At the epicenter of this vast but benevolent explosion are David Beckham and the club he joined in 2003, Real Madrid. No athlete in the world - and maybe no single individual - provokes more widespread fascination than the Londoner with the film-star looks. No sports team anywhere exudes more glamour, has won more competitions or possesses a more dazzling collection of superstars than Real Madrid. The fusion of the two has gripped the attention of literally millions of people, changing the face of the world's favourite sport, marking a clear divide between what came before and what will come after; between the Old Football and the New. White Angels looks at how David Beckham's transfer took place, the machinations and intrigue behind the deal. It exhaustively details Beckham's first year at Real, and how he fared on the field itself alongside the such global stars as Figo, Zidane, Carlos, Raul and Ronaldo. John Carlin, currently a Spanish resident, has been a foreign correspondent for many British newspapers. A football fanatic, he covered the World Cup in 2002 for the Observer and el Pais . In the writing of this book he has had unprecedented access to the Real Madrid team traveling with them to matches, conducting extensive interviews with the players, its manager Jorge Valdano and its charismatic and driven chairman Florentino Perez.