By Alessandro

From afar, Italian soccer looks a certain way to people who don’t follow it. For example, it is often dismissed as overly defensive (negative) to those who are on the outside. This is can lead to selective interpretations. Like anything else that gives into simple perceptions, a more introspective examination is needed. Only once you get closer to the epicenter do things become clearer. Like its history, things in Italy are not always as they appear.

Two books explore the heart of Italian soccer:

“The Italian Job.”

Gianluca Vialli and Gabriele Marcotti.

433 pages. Published by Bantam Books.

“Winning at all Costs: A Scandalous History of Italian Soccer. “

John Foot

528 pages. Published by Nation Books.

Each book explores different aspects of Italian soccer albeit with two different styles and approaches. Vialli is strictly concerned with the differences between English and Italian soccer. Inevitably, his journey leads him into discussing cultural attributes that give way to the styles rooted in each country.

Using many quotes he gained from interviewing some of the top managers in world soccer (for example, Marcello Lippi, Jose Mourinho. Sir Alex Ferguson, Fabio Capello) he builds his case less on science and more on the instincts and experiences of these men. The book takes the reader into the heart of two great football cultures helping to define the values that mark each nation.

Here’s a quote from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger trying to explain why losses are treated differently in Italy and England. He delves into history for a clue:

“Anglo-Saxon culture is all about banding together in small groups, which, to survive, had to remain united and loyal to each other. If you think about it, British history is the history of thousands of years of warring clans…Now Italy and France were also tribal. But to survive they did things differently. That’s why our history is about alliances and betrayals, of the Borgias, of double-crosses, of being with one ally one year and another the next. You love your colours but you love your own survival more.”

Wenger goes on to defend this apparent “British are loyal and Latins are coward theory” as Vialli interpreted with “It comes down to rationality…The Latins think more, they reason more, they are more analytical…And this creates detachment. The Anglo-Saxons don’t do this. If they like something, that’s it, they are attached to it…”

For his part, Foot’s thoroughly researched book - he is a professor of modern Italian history at University College London - focuses on Italy and while he and Vialli intersect in their explanation and exploration of the roots of Italian tactics and strategies, Foot veers off into the less glamorous of Italian soccer culture.

Hence, the title “A Scandalous history.”

Though in large part, it reads simply as a history, Foot does nevertheless enlighten the reader to the many tragedies and scandals (mostly of the betting and match-fixing variety) that seem to be embedded in Italian soccer. More importantly, Foot takes care in attempting to educate the reader about the prevailing cultural attitudes that exists in the Italian psyche. This goes a long way into understanding why Italian function as it does. He takes us in the tragedies at Superga and Heysel, explores the rise of the ultras, examines the media and takes a moment to discuss the litany of legendary and brilliant soccer players Italy has produced.

I’ve always expressed Italian soccer as being where Machiavelli and Michaelangelo meet. Foot essentially takes this root by doing a fine job of establishing the Italians as actors on an operatic soccer stage. He does an even better job of providing insights to people outside Italian culture about what makes Italian culture and soccer function as it does.

Personally, the one thing that I wonder is whether Italian soccer is closer to the reality and truth of modern sports. In light of the recent developments in the NBA and former referee Tim Donaghy, are North Americans simply naive to believe that sports are free of any illicit activity? Is the media exhibiting an indifference or casting a blind eye (much like they did with the drug problem in baseball) to possible corruption in our sports? Is Italian society simply more frank with this reality than most nations or has it simply given into cynicism?

Clearly both books succeed in getting their points across. You don’t need to be a fan of Italian soccer to appreciate the larger questions being posited. It explores cultural aspects of the game as well as the human reality of corruption and prejudice. They may be provocative or scandalous but at least they spark a discussing about one of the world’s greatest cultural and soccer nations.