The Match is the tale of one of the most iconic games in World Cup history: Italy v Brazil at Spain '82. Piero Trellini delves into the stories of the great characters who lit up that unforgettable match - from Paolo Rossi to Sócrates, from Enzo Bearzot to Zico - as well as some forgotten figures who all played their part. The book takes us on a fascinating journey through the 1982 Mundial, exploring the football scene of the day and dishing out fascinating anecdotes on the various historical and sporting links between the two countries. Italy, a nation historically at the forefront of football, did not arrive in Spain as favourites, with widespread doubts about their chances, even in the Italian press. This is one of the reasons why their triumph that summer is still celebrated in Italy above other historic victories by the Azzurri. Following that momentous win, Italy would become the favourite destination for Europe and South America's greatest players.
About the Author :
Piero Trellini was born in Rome in 1970 and still lives there. He has spent most of his life researching and reliving the Italy-Brazil match of 1982, collecting stories, anecdotes and memorabilia, including the referee's whistle used that day. He has written for Italian newspapers La Stampa, Il Messaggero and Il Tempo. His other books include Danteide and L'Affaire.
Review :
"A great hunk of a book which is definitely worth its weight in (blue and) gold... writer Piero Trellini sets the scene brilliantly to perhaps the biggest pitched battle of all time... [It features] 512 pages of education and excitement, including many great colour photos and informative, well-researched writing."
"You may wonder how it is possible to equal the size of Moby Dick by writing about twenty-two men kicking a ball... Trellini took the trouble to analyze the whole analyzer about the protagonists of that challenge."
"Trellini has transformed her sweet, very strong obsession in this volume that represents a football odyssey. I had never read, on a single game, anything so complete and engaging. In its genre: a masterpiece."
"The Match by Piero Trellini is an exceptional undertaking. Books like this are no longer made. It's a super-novel, has super-powers, the greatest is to revive the race with an unsustainable suspense as if we didn't know that Paolo Rossi would have made three goals. I recommend The Match to non-football fans. They will discover many things. About life and not just football."
"Having read many hundreds of sports books over the years, I’ve genuinely never come across one like this... It truly is astonishing and makes you think that reading anything by Trellini on any subject under the sun would be almost as fascinating. I finished The Match truly blown away by the level of research and how Trellini then transformed so many random pieces of information and threads into such a readable and definitive work of art. In short, this is an utterly remarkable piece of work. To call it a sports book or to expect that it limits itself to 90 minutes of football – albeit 90 of the most memorable minutes of football ever played – would be doing it an enormous disservice. This is an homage to a bygone era, the most in-depth account of the before, during and after of any sporting occasion I’ve ever come across, written in a style that is so far removed from anything I’ve ever read before."
"Piero Trellini's The Match is a monumental recreation of his homeland's titanic win over Brazil at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Originally published in Italy in 2019 to much acclaim, the book is a dazzling, dizzying mosaic of detail."
