That Futebol Feeling: Sport and Play in Brazil's Heartland [Paperback]

Futebol, or soccer for Americans, is the planet’s spectator sport of choice. In the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, nestled in the country’s southeastern heartland,futebolgenerates powerful, lifelong emotions.

That Futebol Feelingcaptures the region’s enthrallment with “the beautiful game,” and shows us how and why play is central to the human condition. David Faflik profiles members of the most celebrated local team, Clube Atlético Mineiro (CAM), as well as its passionate, never-say-die fans, to show howfuteboland fandom shape their everyday lives and perspectives. He discovers bonds of work and play, as well as pride, identity, and community. Additionally, Faflik’s analysis of Brazil’sfutebolculture reflects sports fandom worldwide.

CAM stands as a symbol for a way of life in Minas Gerais, the birthplace of Pelé. Faflik interrogates what playing the game means to those who dedicate their lives to the sport. He writes, “The feelings that football inspires are the best of me.”That Futebol Feelingshares that special feeling with the rest of us.

The value ofThat Futebol Feelingis multifold: It is a call to preserve and cultivate the games essence; it offers a new material for 'reading' a specific culture and society through sport; and it is an homage to Atl?tico Mineiros history and identity. But first and foremost, it is an answer to the question, 'How much do we play?'a question we should all, from time to time, ask ourselves.Journal of Sports History

This is a fascinating book that will make important contributions to our understanding of what soccer means in (and for) Braziland what it can mean to anyone who engages with it. Fafliks knowledge is deep and intimate; he displays a mastery of the historiography on soccer in Brazil.That Futebol Feelingalso powerfully delivers the emotions inlóm