Luciano Wernicke – Författare

Lionel Messi is often called the best player of alltime. He holds 46 titles, including one World Cup and four European ChampionLeague titles and eight Ballon d’Ors, the highest individual honor in soccer. In2024, he won Major League Soccer’s MVP award. But who is the player behindthese impressive stats? What makes Lionel Messi so great? This book takes adeep dive into Messi’s background, examining his beginnings, his struggles toreach the top, and even his thoughts on his soccer career.   With Messi’s arrival to Major League Soccer (MLS) in2023, the most popular sport in the world experienced a revolution in the US. More starsfrom Europe, South America, and Africafollowed, and the matches were soon televised on more channels and platformsthan ever before. The explosive success of MLS motivated Time magazineto name Messi the greatest sports figure of 2023.  To fully understand how Messi influenced MLS, thisbook takes a dynamic and in-depth look into his playing history—his beginnings,his career successes, his own personal stories, as well as what other playersthink of Messi’s career. This is the amazing story of how one of the world’sgreatest soccer players revolutionized MLS.

The Dark Side of the Copa Libertadores uncovers the sinister, violent and corrupt goings on that bubble beneath the surface of this famous South American football tournament.By acclaimed Argentine journalist, screenwriter and author Luciano Wernicke, whose books have been published in 30 countries and translated into 18 languages.This gripping book:Delves into the dark side of the most important football club tournament in South AmericaTells of nefarious goings on away from the pitch, including coercion or 'hiring' of referees, threats to rivals and other measures used to gain an unfair edgeReveals the ingenious tricks, traps and ferocious threats used by sports leaders, drug traffickers and political entities to obtain a sporting resultIs brimming with colourful stories and amusing anecdotes: the footballer sent off twice in the same match wearing two different shirts, the priest who scored a winning goal and the brave midfielder who had a mishap in his shorts when he blocked too hardThe Dark Side of the Copa Libertadores charts the successes and miseries, heroes and villains, laughter and tears, screams and silence that have punctuated the tournament since its inception in 1960.

501 World Cup Moments is an astonishing journey through the rich history of the most important tournament in football. For almost a century, the World Cup has offered diverse stages on which artists, madmen and criminals – as the brilliant Argentine writer Osvaldo Soriano once said – have performed. Within its pages, you'll find a compelling selection of gems from across World Cup history, brimming with heroes and villains and unforgettable moments. They include the striker who stayed on the pitch despite suffering a heart attack; the pitch-invading dog that urinated on a player; the triumphant team that took a lap of honour without the cup (which was accidentally left in a bank vault); the team that qualified by winning a match against no one; and the manager who, despite winning the championship, was sad because his team conceded two goals in the final. This enthralling book is chock-full of incredible matches, amazing goals, astounding anecdotes, trivia, quotes, records and much more – from the inaugural tournament at Uruguay 1930 to Qatar 2022.