Author's Official Website
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Will A. Beebe grew up in Windsor, CT, between Boston and New York City. While still a high school student at the Loomis School where his father taught, the greatest soccer giant of all time, Pelé, arrived to play for the nearby Cosmos in 1975. Will went on to major in Studio Art (specifically ceramics), inspired by his professional artist mother, Barbara, and sister, Susan, at Hamilton College in upstate New York, where he helped lead the Hamilton College Continentals to a state soccer championship.
After graduating, he spent six years in Seattle. He moved to Tokyo to become a corporate English trainer for six more years, followed by nine years in Taiwan. Beebe received his master’s in teaching from the School for International Training (SIT) in Vermont in 2007.
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For 15 years in Asia, Will traveled extensively and played in soccer competitions in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, as well as rousing pickup games on the volcanic fields of Bali and damp cow pastures of the Gili Islands (when he wasn’t scuba diving).
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Will's passion for soccer has led him to attend ten consecutive World Cups in person (so far). He has witnessed many of the world's greatest soccer players play live, from Baggio, Eusébio, Pelé, Platini, Maradona, Neymar, Ronaldinho, and Ronaldo “The Phenomenon”, to Cristiano Ronaldo and Zidane. Will currently lives in São Paulo, Brazil, with his wife, Valéria, and son, Miguel.
ABOUT THE Book
How has Brazil managed to produce the sheer number of dazzling soccer players and great champions it has? After living in Brazil for almost two decades, and attending ten consecutive World Cups in person, American writer Will Beebe gives his inside take on the secrets of samba soccer culture.
Writing for a global audience of soccer fans, aspiring players, their parents and coaches, Beebe reveals the unique mindset, techniques, and training that have led Brazil and its myriad outstanding players to the top of the soccer world.
From the time he first witnessed Pelé live, strutting his samba stuff with the N.Y. Cosmos in the 1970s, to his adventures as an English teacher in Japan alongside soccer giants Raí, Ruy Ramos, and Zico, Beebe dives into the profiles and memorable moments of 58 of Brazil's best stars, including “The Top 10 Players to Watch”, and his own son Miguel's rapid soccer growth in Brazil.
On a lighter note, the American describes what it`s like to live and play soccer in Brazil, including his own miscues and revelations on the culture, food, and language (explaining how he was described as a pipoqueiro—a popcorn man, and malandro—a trickster).
(In the picture, Will B. and his son Miguel.)
PRAISE FOR SOCCER GIANTS OF BRAZIL
"Reading Will Beebe's Soccer Giants of Brazil is like sitting down at a bar and discovering that the bright, well-spoken (and super-fit) guy on the stool next to you is a life-long obsessed fan of soccer, and a virtual walking encyclopedia of Brazil’s beautiful game. Beebe has lived and played football in São Paulo for almost two decades and brings an insider’s view to the game there. He also has a keen eye for history, character, and achievement in his depictions of the greatest players to have worn the yellow and green during Brazil’s epic battles for the World Cup. I learned something new and interesting on every page.”
Mark Sullivan,
award-winning author of The Last Green Valley and Beneath a Scarlet Sky