Review by Booklist Review
In 2007, veteran soccer scout Josep Colomer launched an unprecedented talent search: to try out every male 13-year-old player in Africa and develop the very best for professional careers in Europe. His program, Football Dreams, was backed by a country with dreams of its own: Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup. Auditioning more than five million players in 10 years, Football Dreams identified many potential stars (even one who suited up for FC Barcelona), but the legacy of the program is complex, having shattered more dreams than it fulfilled. Veteran journalist Abbot's hard work and scrupulous research shows in this gripping yet evenhanded account. Interleaving stories about individual players and the program that recruited them, while examining sports science and sociopolitical ramifications, Abbot doesn't shy away from issues of player exploitation and age cheating. Many of the stunning talents, we learn, were, in fact, much older than 13, making their true potential that much harder to predict. An important book to ponder as the world's favorite game grows ever more global.--Graff, Keir Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
African teens vying to become pros in elite soccer leagues find their dreams turning to dust in this alternately hopeful and dispiriting sports saga. Journalist Abbot follows the Football Dreams program, started in 2007 by coach Josep Colomer, a former youth scout for FC Barcelona, to engage 400,000 13-year-old boys from seven African nations in tryouts to find the two dozen best for an advanced soccer academy. To Colomer, this selection promised to uncover potential superstars; to the impoverished kids it promised a shot at million-euro contracts with top European clubs. The program did find superb players, and Abbot presents an interesting exploration of the science of soccer talent, delving into the athleticism, ball-handling skills, strategic game sense, and grit that create success; he suggests that these are honed in the pickup games that Africa's soccer-mad youth delight in. Alas, few Dreamers made it to the pros thanks to exploitative coaches and agents, rigid FIFA rules, and their own duplicity: the best "13-year-olds" probably faked their IDs and were several years older, meaning they were not quite the prodigies they seemed and did not blossom as anticipated. Abbot's narrative features vivid profiles, engrossing play-by-play, and a sobering lesson: bad breaks and cold business calculations sometimes trump ability in the making of champions. Photos. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Soccer (or football, as it's known by most of the world) approaches the status of a religion around the globe. For many youth, playing for a first-division European team may provide an opportunity to escape an impoverished life. In his first book, journalist Abbot presents the quest to discover the next generation of elite players through the work of Aspire Football Dreams. Founded in Qatar in 2005, the organization sends scouts into Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia to hold tryouts for local talent. Players making the cut go the Aspire academy in Duha for additional training. Abbot focuses on Spanish scout Joseph Colmers and the African players he has recruited. Some found success playing for second-division European teams. Other struggled and eventually returned home. Abbot also provides insight into the roles of sports medicine and psychology in developing players and the politics and economics of major league soccer. Reader Robert Fass does an excellent job presenting the story. VERDICT Listeners with an interest in the game will enjoy this audiobook. ["A fascinating glimpse into the world of soccer scouts": LJ 5/15/18 review of the Norton hc.]-Stephen L. Hupp, West -Virginia Univ. -Parkersburg Lib. © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Exploring the fine line between opportunity and exploitation in the world of African youth soccer.In his first book, former AP Islamabad bureau chief Abbot writes about Football Dreams, a program aimed at finding future soccer superstars in Africa. In 2007, Josep Colomer, a scout and youth director from the legendary FC Barcelona, undertook an extensive journey through seven African countries for the purpose of tapping into the continent's rich soccer talent pool. Football Dreams would operate under the auspices of Qatar's Aspire Academy, an institution geared toward improving that country's soccer talent as the country approaches its hosting duties for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, sparing no expense along the way. Colomer and his associates identified a talented group of young 13-year-old African boys to bring to Qatar. The stated goal was to develop players who could achieve their dreams of playing at the highest level in Europe's professional leagues. However, the academy encountered problems due to the fact that the goals were not entirely clear and the methods not transparent. For every player who found a modicum of success, many more fell by the wayside. Abbot focuses on three of these young men while telling the stories of several others. He investigates the nature of talent development and the mysteries of the Qatari motivations, and he shows how the players, many from profoundly disadvantaged backgrounds, were exposed to almost unimaginably opulent surroundings at Aspire even as they were pulled in multiple directions by their club coaches back in Ghana and Senegal, their families, and the desires of officials at Aspire. Abbot also explores the problems with identifying the true ages of players and reveals how Aspire refused to allow some of its players to explore their possibilities in Europe. A solid storyteller, the author ensures that readers are invested in the dreams, lives, successes, and heartbreaks of these young men.A sobering look at the realities of the pursuit of big-time sporting opportunities. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
