A sports reporter whose beat is Rio de Janeiro shares his insights into Brazilian soccer, which has become a kind of religion in Latin America's largest country. Reprint.

Product Description: Through the lens of Brazil's trademark sport, Alex Bellos brings us a fascinating portrait of Brazilian identity. The Brazilian soccer team is one of the modern wonders of the world. Its essence is a game in which prodigious individual skills outshine team tactics, where dribbles and flicks are preferred over physical challenges or long-distance passes, where technique has all the elements of dance and, indeed, is often described as such...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)