“An exhilarating, at times heartbreaking, and ultimately unforgettable journey that lays bare the true human stakes of the world’s most popular game.”—Warren St. John, best-selling author of Outcasts United Searching for soccer’s next superstars, an audacious program called Football Dreams held tryouts for millions of 13-year-old boys across Africa. In The Away Game, Sebastian Abbot follows several of the boys as they chase their dreams in a dizzying world of rich Arab sheikhs, money-hungry agents, and soccer-mad European fans.

“An exhilarating, at times heartbreaking, and ultimately unforgettable journey that lays bare the true human stakes of the world’s most popular game.”—Warren St. John, best-selling author of Outcasts United Searching for soccer’s next superstars, an audacious program called Football Dreams held tryouts for millions of 13-year-old boys across Africa. In The Away Game, Sebastian Abbot follows several of the boys as they chase their dreams in a dizzying world of rich Arab sheikhs, money-hungry agents, and soccer-mad European fans.

Over the past decade, an audacious programme called Football Dreams has held trials for millions of 13-year-old boys across Africa looking for football's next superstars. Led by the Spanish scout who helped launch Lionel Messi's career at Barcelona and funded by the desert kingdom of Qatar, the programme has chosen a handful of boys each year to train to become professionals – a process over a thousand times more selective than getting into Harvard. In The Away Game, reporter Sebastian Abbot follows a small group of the boys as they are discovered on dirt fields across Africa, join the glittering academy in Doha where they train, and compete for the chance to gain fame and fortune at Europe's top clubs. Abbot masterfully weaves together the dramatic story of the boys' journey with an exploration of the art and science of trying to spot talent at such a young age. Richly reported and deeply moving, The Away Game is set against the geopolitical backdrop of Qatar's rise from an impoverished patch of desert to an immensely rich nation determined to buy a place on the international stage. It is an unforgettable story of the joy and pain these talented African boys experience as they chase their dreams in a dizzying world of rich Arab sheikhs, moneyhungry agents, and football-mad European fans.

This Level 3 book introduces and examines the different aspects of soccer. Students will develop word recognition and reading skills while learning about the history and rules of soccer, as well as how to play the game. Additional text features and search tools, including a glossary and an index, help students locate and review important information.

Jim is trying his uncoordinated hand at basketball. Will he use his secret skill to win the game and risk becoming the laughing stock of the school?

Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and text highlighting for an engaging read aloud experience! Lionel Messi is one of the best soccer players in the world. He's led his team—Fútbol Club (FC) Barcelona—to several championships, he's won the FIFA Ballon d'Or award five times, and he's been on the cover of the video game EA Sports FIFA four times. Messi is known for his amazing ability to score goals, but he didn't become a soccer superstar without plenty of hard work. Learn how Messi keeps his body fit for the game, what his life is like off the pitch, and more.

During his soccer career, superstar forward Pelé won three FIFA World Cup titles and became the all-time leading scorer for Brazil. Find out more about his record-breaking achievements and lasting legacy in this biography.