Overview

What if the most beautiful stories in football are the ones that end in defeat? Imperfect Heroes tells eleven unforgettable tales of glory and heartbreak-of teams that played the most sublime football ever seen, only to fall at the final hurdle. Of geniuses who touched the sky before crashing back to earth. Of moments so pure and painful they've become immortal. This is not a book about winners. It's about the teams and players we remember because they lost-because their defeats were more beautiful, more human, more real than any victory could ever be. Inside these pages: - Hungary 1954 - The Golden Team that dominated world football for four years... until one afternoon in Bern changed everything - Netherlands 1974 - Cruijff's Total Football, the most revolutionary style the game has ever seen, undone in the final by pragmatism and a penalty - Brazil 1982 - Sócrates, Zico, and the most beautiful team that never won, destroyed by Paolo Rossi and cruel fate - George Best - The Fifth Beatle, the greatest talent of his generation, who conquered the world at 22 and lost it all by 27 - Diego Maradona - From the Hand of God to a positive test in Boston: the rise and fall of football's most troubled genius - Paul Gascoigne - The poet who cried, whose tears in Italia '90 made him immortal - Roberto Baggio - The Divine Ponytail and the penalty that never falls, frozen forever above the Pasadena sky - Ronaldo - What happened in room 290? The mystery of Paris '98 and the Phenomenon who broke before our eyes - Milan vs Liverpool - Istanbul and Athens: when the gods changed their minds, twice This is football as literature. Poetic, nostalgic, deeply emotional. Written by the founder of Mundial Style, one of the world's most beloved platforms for football storytelling, reaching millions of fans who understand that the beautiful game is more than just results. Imperfect Heroes is a love letter to everyone who has ever felt the sting of defeat, the weight of unfulfilled potential, the bittersweet beauty of dreams that came so close you could taste them-before they slipped away forever. Because sometimes, losing beautifully is the only way to become immortal. Perfect for fans of: Inverting the Pyramid, The Mixer, Fever Pitch, My Father and Other Working-Class Football Heroes ""Football is not about winning. It's about remembering.""

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