Back to the future (of football) from the 80s, 90s and 2000s 🌀
Before we delve into the details of the four new limited-edition football photographs for March, let's take a quick look at the latest additions to our bookstore section . We mentioned them in a previous edition. We said we were out of stock. So we've reprinted them, but in magazine format and in a limited run of only 500 copies.
But what is he talking about? So Foot books about the 80s and 90s, of course! Let's start the presentations in chronological order.
Published a few years before the book on the 1970s, "So Foot 80's: Champagne Football & Glitter Parties" tackles, contrary to what its title might suggest, the transition from a classy football inherited from the utopian ideals of '68 (Telê Santana's Brazil) to a football wallowing in the vulgarity of Berlusconi, money, glitz, and personal success. The backdrop includes: "politics" (the end of the Soviet bloc and major Eastern European teams like Steaua Bucharest and Dynamo Kyiv), violence (the rise of hooliganism with the Heysel Stadium disaster, skinhead culture), the media (the all-powerful television of the Téléfoot era, the creation of Canal+, Berlusconi in Italy and France with the now-defunct La Cinq), and a touch of national pride: Platini's Les Bleus were the first major French team to start winning (1982, 1984, 1986).
After the 80s, the 90s!
Published in 2015, our book on the 1990s is a story of football's endless possibilities… The rise and fall of Olympique de Marseille. The advent of Paris Saint-Germain, the Canal+ era. The 1994 World Cup in the United States (without France, but with Bulgaria). The great Juventus team. The rebirth of Real Madrid. The creation of the Champions League (with group stages). As well as the rise of sportswear manufacturers (and neon jerseys), television, and business too… Not forgetting: Hristo Stoichkov, Tomas Brolin, the Fugees, Bernard Tapie, floppy disks, Silvio Berlusconi, the Nantes style of play, overalls, the Brazilian players at PSG, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Windows 95, Kangol berets, Street Fighter II, the golden goal, Roberto Baggio, Heartbreak High, the Ballon d'Or, and Jean-Pierre Papin's porn films, etc., etc., etc. The list of what made the 90s so great is at least as long as the mullet of the legendary Tony Vairelles. Who, quite naturally, wrote the foreword to this mythical book.
Finally, just before we move on to the photos, a quick word about the exciting double issue of So Foot dedicated to Pep Guardiola. Released in two parts, with the first magazine in February and the second in March, we're offering to send you both issues (whose covers complement each other) directly to your mailbox with no shipping costs!
On the menu of these 200 pages: iconic interviews (Guardiola, Iniesta, Pedro, Dante…), roundtables with tacticians (Lucescu, Sacchi, Montanier, Nancy), former players (Mangala, Varane, Juninho…) and philosophers, reports (Santpedor, Brescia, Qatar, Mexico, New York, Manchester and even Valenciennes…), portraits of close friends (Maresca, Manna), analyses, and plenty of other interesting tidbits that will retrace in every detail the player's career and his beginnings on the bench…
The photos:
Morocco, an unexpected underdog, defied all predictions at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Guided by a spirit of solidarity and an impenetrable defense, the Atlas Lions strung together a series of remarkable feats. First, a draw against Croatia, then two victories in the group stage against Belgium and Canada, the Moroccans finished top of their group. A formidable opponent awaited them in the Round of 16: Spain. They eliminated them after a nail-biting penalty shootout (0-0; 3-0 on penalties). Then, they knocked out Portugal in the quarterfinals to become the first African team to reach the semifinals. This heroic journey, marked by moments of bravery and cohesion, thrilled an entire continent and reminded the world that football is one of the few sports where the underdogs can upset the biggest footballing powers.
Franck Ribéry + Arjen Robben = Robbéry. Two explosive talents, two opposing wings, one jersey: Bayern Munich. Teammates for 10 years (from 2009 to 2019) in the Bavarian shirt, the Frenchman and the Dutchman revealed, in addition to their fairly similar technique, a formidable complementarity. Their relationship, sometimes marked by tension, like that famous argument in 2012, propelled Bayern to the top, notably with their Champions League triumph in the 2012/2013 season. "Robbéry," therefore, like Batman and Robin, embodies this fascinating duality between rivalry and complicity, which only a single image can truly capture.
When they arrived in Spain in June 1982 for their first World Cup appearance, the Algerian national team was walking on eggshells. When they left the country barely a month later, Madjer, Belloumi, and Dahleb's teammates were as much heroes as they were unfortunate victims. In between, they had achieved one of the greatest feats in world football, beating Germany in their first group match (2-1), losing the second (0-2) to Austria, before being eliminated in the "Disgrace of Göring." At the time, the final group matches were played at different times, and the Austrians and Germans arranged for the game to end with a scoreline favorable to both teams (knowing that Algeria had won 3-0 against Chile). A photographic tribute to this Algerian Dream Team.
July 26, 1991. Matchday 2 of Division 1. Cannes faces Montpellier. On the pitch, two football virtuosos: Carlos Valderrama, 30, a Colombian with a mane of golden hair, and a young, still relatively unknown, 19-year-old Zinédine Zidane. The match ends in a 2-0 victory for Cannes, but what truly captures the memory is the confrontation between these two geniuses. A photographer—JC Lamy—managed to immortalize it when, in a duel, the two geniuses crossed his field of vision simultaneously. Iconic.
The t-shirt:
When we stumbled across the photo of Zidane and Valderrama, we thought that this golden mane of 90s football deserved its own textile tribute. So we dug through the archives and settled on this picture taken during the national anthems before a friendly match against Germany in '98. Carlos is holding his hand to his heart and sporting a thousand bracelets on his wrist. Plus, a white cotton t-shirt under his Colombian Reebok jersey. Vintage to the max.
All these photos are limited edition.
Between 15 and 30 copies per size, and per medium (photo paper, dibond, plexi)