false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg 472615 1 English writer Phil Ball has put the history of Spanish football into the context of the epomymous <I>Morbo</I>. Hard to pin down in translation (though the author manfully spends a chapter trying to explain the term in its fullest sense), "morbo" encapsulates the fierce rivalry across a club scene fragmented by history, language and politics. The bitter feeling between Barcelona and Real Madrid has, of course, been well-documented elsewhere. Here that famous rivalry is only one component of a landscape of antagonism. In particular, the Basque country in the north-west and Seville in the south both provide breeding grounds for a healthy portion of "morbo", and receive Ball's attention accordingly. The narrative captures the essence of that feeling perfectly, without failing to inform on a historical basis. A splendid chapter traces the ancestry of football in Spain back to the labourers in the English-owned copper mines in Huelva, Andalucia. While Spanish club football has always had its stars, from Di Stefano to Cruyff and Butragueno through to Raul and Luis Figo today, Ball shows that there is a greater force running in its lifeblood. Yet still there remains a paradox; he analyses the historical under-achievement of the Spanish national side in major international tournaments. <p> The new millennium has seen excellent books focusing on football culture in Holland and France--namely <I>Brilliant Orange</I> and <I>Le Foot</I>. At a time when the stock of Spanish club football has perhaps not been higher since the heyday of Real Madrid in the late 50s and early 60s, <I>Morbo</I>, a triumph in the same vein, thankfully allows us to add Spain to the list. --<I>Trevor Crowe</I> 460887 12 12 2003 Morbo total:27|5:6|4:14|3:7|2:0|1:0| 27 107 39 5 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 5 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jun 25 07:29:41 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 07 08:56:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 4 0 false Sat Jun 27 10:43:20 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 10:43:43 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 4 0 false Sun Aug 31 00:53:35 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 31 00:55:27 -0700 2008 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 4 0 false Fri Jul 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 18:30:03 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 04 10:28:28 -0700 2008 Phil Ball is an excellent writer: clever, articulate, well-informed, and often funny. I'm sure he could produce great books on any subject. It's good luck for football fans he chose this one.]]> 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 3 0 false Wed Aug 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 09:33:12 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 09:40:55 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 0 0 false Mon Sep 21 21:08:51 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 21:08:51 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 3 0 false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Aug 22 19:29:15 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 19:29:15 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 0 0 false Mon Aug 17 08:59:10 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 08:59:10 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 0 0 false Tue Aug 04 20:35:58 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 20:36:05 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 0 0 false Wed Jul 29 23:34:21 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 23:34:21 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 0 0 false Wed Jun 24 14:55:07 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 14:55:07 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 4 0 false Sat May 16 01:00:58 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 01:00:58 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 0 0 false Wed May 13 21:07:28 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 08:39:12 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 0 0 false Wed May 13 12:20:33 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 12:20:33 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 5 0 false Wed May 06 19:40:40 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 19:40:40 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 4 0 false Tue May 05 20:14:11 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 20:14:11 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 3 0 false Tue Feb 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun May 03 04:06:54 -0700 2009 Sun May 03 04:07:00 -0700 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 3 0 false Tue Jan 20 08:10:25 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 08:10:27 -0800 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 0 0 false Fri Jan 09 17:07:55 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 17:07:58 -0800 2009 472615 0954013468 9780954013462 27 5 3.96 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175043225m/472615.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/472615.Morbo 3 0 false Thu Nov 13 08:45:09 -0800 2008 Sat Oct 25 08:38:11 -0700 2008 Thu Nov 13 08:45:09 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=472615