If the talent only won one World Cup, the Netherlands would have at least one, maybe two stars on their crest. Brazil would go decades between losing World Cups. And the Germans, well, they would still win on penalties.
Jokes aside, winning a World Cup requires more than just the 23 most talented players. It requires navigating past a grueling qualifying schedule followed by preparations for the tournament itself. Then the competition forces near perfection, as a single mistake can cost a team a game and any chance at glory. Unsurprisingly, the man on the touchline is under intense scrutiny at all times. Ever since the first World Cup, fans have wondered what the right kind of manager is to win a World Cup. At least, what kind of coach can’t falter with the most talented squad.
Journalist Chris Evans explores these topics and more in the book How to Win the World Cup: Secrets and Insights from the Best Coaches in International Soccer. Drawing on numerous interviews with coaches and soccer insiders, Evans doesn’t definitively answer the questions, but does provide perspective on how successful coaches navigated this intense tournament.
Book How to Win the World Cup.
Logically, the book is organized chronologically by World Cup cycle. It starts with the most basic question: how is international management different from club management? Then, you dive into qualifying. Evans does talk about what it’s like to manage the world’s lowest-ranked countries. The World Cup dreams of those countries are simply not to lose by double digits. That topic, however, is covered extensively elsewhere. The book progresses through ratings with stops on important topics like roster management, player management, and how to deal with team controversy.
The book ends with the most fundamental question. Why has only one person won two World Cups as a coach? Rather, what makes winning the World Cup so difficult to repeat as an achievement? Drawing on Del Bosque’s Spain, Evans does an excellent job of laying out the reasons why winning the World Cup is so impossible even for the current champions.
The most important conclusion of this book is that everything has to go well for a country to win a World Cup. Talent is important, but not having the right manager at the right time is just as important. Evans makes this point when talking to some big-name managers. In addition, he includes information from people who are knowledgeable about the game and its surroundings. This book is why veteran journalists can be good authors. They know who and how to interview.
World Cup 2022
The 2022 World Cup is fast approaching. This book is tailored to the times when fans are preparing for the tournament in Qatar.
Normally I don’t recommend that everyone go out and pick up a specific book, but like the right World Cup coach, sometimes you have the right resource at the right time. Whoever lifts the trophy this winter in Qatar, this book will give them a guide to how the coach could have done it, or at least how he could not have done it.
