Product Description

Elephants, Lions and Eagles describes Filippo Ricci's wide range of experiences in following African football from 1993 to 2006, while working as a reporter, yearbook editor and picture card compiler. He travels to Burkina Faso, where European scouts watch players at the African Cup of Nations, joins a packed bar in downtown Douala to watch Cameroon on TV and he is also present at FIFA headquarters when a World Cup is awarded to Africa for the first time. These are just some of the many stories in the book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82926 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Review
"A thoroughly refreshing and illuminating read" --Four Four Two magazine

Customer Reviews

A good book but a missed opportunity
The author has quite a passion for the African game and whilst it is an interesting read, you feel as though he has only scratched the surface. It's a rather short read too and as the chapters are not very long, it seems like a missed opportunity as very little is actually written about African football. We are given recaps of past African Cup of Nations tournaments but only in drips and drabs thus a lot of detail and juicy content is discarded. At times you get the feeling the book is more suited as a travel guide. At best we are given short accounts of the goings on and ultimately this book could and should have been a hell of a lot better.

A short ride to Africa
I'm glad I have the opportunity to write an opening review for this book, as I enjoyed it a lot. Although, a little on the short side the book charts the authors adventures into African football in an informative and inventive manner.

Filippo is, by trade, an Italian journalist. His background in the African game includes writing freelance reports for papers and magazines along with the compilation of various year books and the collection of photos for the Panini company. This background has enabled him to gain great insight into the game in a country that can be hard for even veteran writers to break down and understand.

The book charts his journeys through Africa reporting on various football events and collecting the photographs for the sticker albums. Contained within this is a mixture of travel writing and anecdotes which anyone familiar with the continent will exclaim on reading 'only in Africa!'

The sections on the book about the photo collecting can seem slightly tedious as they only reinforce many ideas of the continents game, which have been highlighted in other, more interesting chapters. This does not detract from the experiences of a man who clearly understands the African game that flow from the rest of this charming book.

In short, this book is a must read for all fans of the world game, from one of African footballs most foremost writers.