News and reviews of Rock n Roll Soccer



ROCK N ROLL SOCCER: The Short Life and Fast Times of the North American Soccer League, by Ian Plenderleith. This is the blog to back the book hailed as "fantastic" by Danny Kelly on
Talksport Radio, and described as a "vividly entertaining history of the league" in the Independent on Sunday. In the US, Booklist described it as "a gift to US soccer fans". The UK paperback edition published by Icon Books is now available here for just £8.99, while the North America edition published by St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books can be found here for $11.98. Thank you.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Beckenbauer v Matthäus in New York

Good apple, bad apple, in the Big Apple
The careers of two of the greatest players in German football were inextricably linked through their country's victory at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The coach was Franz Beckenbauer, his captain was Lothar Matthäus. Beckenbauer himself had lifted the same trophy in 1974. Influential playmakers and versatile team-leaders, they were both champions time and again with Bayern Munich, and boasted multiple team and individual awards. And towards the end of their careers, both players joined clubs in New York.

That's where the parallel lives start to drift apart. Here at the website In Bed With Maradona, as part of their extensive feature on soccer in the Five Boroughs, is my feature on how the Kaiser was a huge hit with the New York Cosmos in the late 1970s, while two decades later Matthäus came to the Big Apple and ended up scoring no goals, and making just as many friends.  

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