Why Soccer Matters: A Look at More Than Sixty Years of International Soccer

      Soccer. Football. The beautiful game. The worldu2019s most popular sport goes by many names, but for decades, fans have agreed on one thing: the greatest player of all time was PelxE9. Now the legendary star, ambassador, and humanitarian shares a global vision for what soccer can accomplish. Now he shares his story, his experience, and his insights on the game for the very first time.

Before Messi, before Ronaldo, before Beckham, there was Edson Arantes do Nascimentou2014known simply as PelxE9. A national treasure, he created pure magic with his accomplishments on the field: an unprecedented three World Cup championships and the all-time scoring record, with 1,283 goals in his twenty year career.

Now, with the World Cup returning after more than sixty years to Brazilu2014the country often credited with perfecting the sportu2014soccer has a unique opportunity to encourage change on a global level. And as the tournamentu2019s official ambassador, PelxE9 is ready to be the face of progress.

For the first time ever PelxE9 explores the recent history of the game and provides new insights into socceru2019s role connecting and galvanizing players around the world. He has traveled the world as the global ambassador for soccer and in support of charitable organizations such as Unicef, promoting the positive influences soccer can have to transform young men and women, struggling communities, even entire nations. In groundbreaking detail and with unparalleled openness, he shares his most inspiring experiences, heartwarming stories and hard-won wisdom, and he puts the game in perspective.

This is PelxE9u2019s legacy, his way of passing on everything heu2019s learned and inspiring a new generation. In Why Soccer Matters, PelxE9 details his ambitious goals for the future of the sport and, by extension, the world.

Commemorative poster inside the jacket