The ultimate book to get through a summer without a European or World Championship!
SEX, DRUGS and SOCCER
Playing soccer may be absolutely marvellous, but gabbing about it is just as much fun. So, what are the best topics to talk about? The glamor
ous pros and their antics, of course. They're addicted to sex or drugs, they gamble away their lives, they fight with anyone and everyone and they're involved in all sorts of tomfoolery. In short: they like to do what God forbids.
From Maradona to George Best and from Romário to Dutchman Edgar Davids, the press loves these guys. However, there is still a lot of uncharted territory, and even hardcore soccer fans will not remember everything or they will not have had the time to read all the biographies of these star players.
This book is a collection of the greatest, most famous bad boys in recent years. Their antics, affairs, fights and controversial actions are all humorously described. This is a book for the soccer fan who wants to have something to talk about with his friends in the pub, during the third half or while on holiday.
The author, Maarten Bax, has been a sports journalist for 25 years. He has worked in the Netherlands as well as internationally, and he has met many of these bad boys. You could call him a specialist on this theme.
Bax took his first careful step in the World of writing with the (authorized) biography of the famous soccer twins Frank and Ronald de Boer –we could call them the goody two-shoes of football. Then, Bax gathered momentum with the first-ever biography of a Dutch hooligan and a book on the violent death of linesman Richard Nieuwenhuizen. Finally, in 2014, he authored the (authorized) biography of Badr Hari a Dutch kick boxer with a dubious reputation.
Oh, and... Bax has been playing soccer since he was little, so he knows the average soccer fan's favourite topics: sex, drugs and soccer.
De Telegraaf (on 'De Boertjes', biography on the brothers De Boer): 'An engrossing portrait of the soccer twins'
Het Parool (on Badr Hari 'Mijn verhaal'): 'A charming biography of a colourful person'