Have you ever imagine yourself as the manager of a team that had the best players in the world, both from the past and the present? These powers cannot be given to you but the book, Build Your Dream Team: My Greatest Football Team Ever allows you to do something along the same lines. Football lovers are provided with an incredible opportunity to choose their dream team from the best of the best.

Journalist Tom Fordyce came up with a book that is full of facts, humour, history and activities. It all begins with the reader, who is asked to pick a leadership style from the many options provided. As a manager, how you should be dressed, what your attitude should be, should you be maverick or traditional, etc? Throughout the course of the book, ‘the manager’ is asked to design the ideal stadium, the team’s kit, the meal and even the mascot.

The fun doesn’t end there as the readers are then taken to the selection of the all-important goalkeepers. It is exciting to choose from a host of international players, both past and present. Every player has a page dedicated to his career, where the readers get to read about him or her, which teams they represented, their peak period as well as their best performance. The rating system is awesome and any kid with good knowledge of football would easily go through the book in hours.

After picking the best goalkeeper, the readers have to move to other positions such as the left-back, where Brazil’s Roberto Carlos and Italy’s Paolo Maldini are just two of the eight names while England’s David Beckham, Argentina’s Lionel Messi, and Egypt’s Mo Salah are there when one goes to pick a right midfielder. If choosing one amongst Maradona and Pele was tough, the selection of this dream team could become a nightmare.

The writer has used a conversational style that engages children from the get-go. It’s an education that will come in handy since the World Cup is in full swing and many would feel like authentic managers fretting over real decisions. You would surely end up debating the greatness of players with your friends, parents and family members.

The book is a lot better than reading a football encyclopaedia, because the writing style is as if an elder is narrating something to you. With the FIFA World Cup underway, the book could make you a football expert in no time, who can impress his or her friends with knowledge that doesn’t come to anyone, easily!

Published in Dawn, Young World, November 26th, 2022