Sports: books to read during confinement

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More than 4 billion people are now called upon to remain confined during the global new coronavirus pandemic. To pass the time, RFI offers a selection of books to read, for sports enthusiasts.

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Éric Chaurin recommends ROUGE OU MORT , by David Peace

Red Or Dead is much more than a biography, the hallucinating and vibrant history of the 15 years that Bill Shankly spent at the head of Liverpool from 1959 to 1974. From the 2nd division where the club vegetated without ambitions to its first Cup of 'Europe, the UEFA Cup, in 1973, with 3 titles of Champion of England and 2 Cup in the process. Ninety chapters to tell the visceral bond that this former miner who became coach of Liverpool Football Club has woven with Reds supporters over his years. " For once, I wanted to write about a good guy ," said David Peace, a hypnotic-style author of black, very black novels. The story of a man who is also the metaphor of an England losing its values.

Annie Gasnier recommends THE MAN WHO NEVER NEVER DEAD , by Olivier Margot

The story of Austrian Matthias Sindelar, a legendary footballer from the Interwar period. Nicknamed the Mozart of football, he dazzled the crowds who rushed to admire the virtuoso of the "Wunderteam", the wonderful Austrian team. Matthias Sindelar scored 600 goals in 700 games, but was a victim of historic events at the time. This fictionalized biography also tells the story of Mitteleuropa. Remarkable!

Antoine Grognet recommends SELF PORTRAIT OF THE BACKGROUND AUTHOR , by Haruki Murakami

Running, or what it says about the runner. Murakami, one of the most respected Japanese authors in the world, takes a step aside and describes his passion for running, especially long distances. A passion as much as a pain when he decides, under the cameras of a Japanese television, to try to run an ultra-marathon of 100 kilometers. The alternation of pleasure and intense suffering that comes with running is remarkably transcribed.

David Kalfa recommends JORDAN, PLAY FOR POSTERITY , by David Halberstam

For those who would like to watch the mini-series event "The Last Dance", devoted to the last season (1997-98) of the best basketball player of all time with the Chicago Bulls, it is urgent to read this book of 530 pages. Incredibly rich in anecdotes, Jordan, playing for posterity allows you to apprehend the incredible career of player of "His Airness", in its entirety, as its incomparable impact on his discipline and on sport in general. We can better understand how "MJ" became the most famous athlete worldwide.

Éric Mamruth recommends OPEN, AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY , by André Agassi

The richest and most complete autobiography written by a tennis player. The former American world number 1 tells us his life frankly, without the slightest concession, with a host of details: his disgust for tennis when his father forced him to kick thousands of balls daily, his addiction to drugs, his permanent back pain, not to mention the wig he wore on the court to hide his baldness. The "Las Vegas Kid" talks about his failures, his wanderings and the path that led him to the heights and fulfillment, thanks in particular to his meeting with the German champion Steffi Graf. An essential work to discover who André Agassi really was.

Thomas de Saint-Léger recommends LE DERNIER PENALTY , by Gigi Riva

A history of football, politics and war, with as a starting point, a missed shot on June 30, 1990, at the Stadio Comunale in Florence, in the quarterfinals of the Italian "World". Faruk Hadzibegic, a Bosnian from Yugoslavia, sees his attempt rejected by Argentinian goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea. The selection of the Balkans is eliminated while the unity of the country, already weakened since the death of Tito, cracks a little more. Less than a year later, war broke out for good. Slovenia and Croatia quickly proclaim their independence, and a team will never again represent the peoples of the region in the World Cup. Namesake of a great Italian striker of the years 1960-70, the journalist Gigi Riva unraveles in this fascinating tale the close links between football and politics in ex-Yugoslavia, with in common thread an unanswered question: " And if this penalty had gone in the back of the net ? "

Alejandro Valente recommends JOHAN CRUYFF, GENIE POP ET DESPOTE , by Chérif Ghemmour

Johan Cruyff occupies a special place in the history of football. If he only appears in second place among the great geniuses, just behind the Pelé, Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona, he will have succeeded at the same time a formidable playing career, mainly in Ajax jerseys, Barcelona and the Netherlands, and coach, with the famous Barca "Dream Team" as masterpiece, which won the first and long-awaited European Cup of champion clubs in 1992. In this wonderful biography, Chérif Ghemmour paints a portrait full of admiration for a man who accompanied on the field the great cultural revolution of the 1960s and 70s, that of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. But without masking the sometimes despotic biases of his personality, his obsession with money, even his manipulative side ... Four years after his death, an essential work, to read like a novel ...

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