Christopher Hunt Bücher

Telling the whole story of the game, The Complete Book of Football, offers a one-stop source for everything you want to know about the world's greatest game. Beginning with the origins of the game, this comprehensive, readable and highly illustrated book, examines the history, the rules, the stars of bygone eras and of the modern game, the great clubs, every footballing nation and all the competitions that make it such an enduring and world-wide phenomenon. competitions at international and club level - with every FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship covered in detail, including many unusually detailed statistical sidebars and player ratings for the great finals. The great players of the game, modern and historical, are described with individual biographies. There are sections devoted to the great clubs and great stadiums of the world and with a short history of each of the countries that play the game, the book also concludes with a list of historic winners of each of the countries' domestic league and cup winners. It is richly illustrated with over 550 photographs, sourced internationally, and a variety of specially commissioned graphics, formations and charts.

The ancient Maya's magic intertwines with the modern world when the ancestor spirits of Xibalba create a golden disc honoring their goddess of death, Venus. This powerful artifact cures ailments, heals injuries, and prevents aging for its lord. However, manipulating the disc leads to invisibility and a connection to Xibalba. Seeking a ruler for their Yucatan village, the spirits choose a wanderer on a vision quest, making him King Smoke Jaguar, who rules for centuries until disaster traps him and his followers at the temple pyramid's base. Millennia later, an illegal drug operation takes over the site, and pilot Carter Boyle, a rogue with questionable morals, finds himself imprisoned among the ruins. During an escape, he discovers a hidden passage and encounters the still-living King Smoke Jaguar. Mistaking the Venus Disc for mere gold, Boyle seizes it, and after a fall, the disc's healing powers save him. He learns to use its invisibility, but the consequences are dire. As he escapes, the spirits reluctantly accept him as the new Lord of the Disc, subjecting him to trials that amplify his darker traits. Meanwhile, Smoke Jaguar's spirit appears to high school teacher Hector Perez, revealing he is the king's descendant and rightful heir to the disc and Witz Balam. Eventually, Hector must confront Boyle to reclaim the disc and fulfill his destiny to restore Witz Balam, now an archaeological treasure, guided by the ancient magi