The Ten Shirt: How The United States National Soccer Team (Might Have) Won The 1982 World Cup Paperback – March 13, 2010

I'll start out by saying I did enjoy reading this book. It's definitely a page turner and I was into it throughout. I attribute that more to the fact that I'm an avid soccer fan than to the quality of the writing.The premise of a reality where soccer took a prominent position in the US sports landscape is a fun one, and it gripped me from the beginning. Time and time again, though, I found myself shaking my head at the poor quality of the writing. It is written at about a fourth grade level, although the target audience seems to be middle-aged men. I used to devour Matt Christopher's formulaic mass-produced kids' sports books when I was a kid, and this felt very similar. The idea of real-life baseball players who chose soccer in this alternate reality could have been interesting to develop, but the author drops it in 3/4 of the way through and abruptly drops it after a paragraph or two... really odd.In all, this was a fun, quick read for vacation and I did enjoy flipping through it, smiling at the thought of it. But it doesn't have much to offer if you're not a big soccer fan.

As a big USMNT fan, I had high hopes when I got this book for Christmas, and to an extent they were met, but The Ten Shirt is far from perfect. I cringed at the repetitive grammatical errors (nothing major, but the small ones did add up and become rather annoying after a while) and got frustrated with the use of giant spaces between paragraphs. The action is really stretched out in this latter respect--the opening stories on the players are great, but I finished feeling as if I didn't go through all that much with the team when all was said and done. Additionally, I just have to say that I didn't feel that Maddox is, in all honesty, a very good writer. Some of the plot lines and dialogue (jokes between players especially) don't work, to put it simply. All in all, I have to say that the idea behind the book is a fantastic one, and that's the reason that I don't at all regret having read The Ten Shirt, but the execution in bringing that idea to life could certainly have been much better.

For some reason I didn't research this book and didn't realize that it was fiction before I purchased it, which explains why I hadn't heard of most of the names mentioned in it haha. Other than that it's okay other than some grammatical errors and being hard to follow at times, just don't do what I did and think that it was non-fiction.

This is a great look at how soccer could have been different in America. Monday night games, Clubs with youth feeder systems, a top level relegation system. The thought that we could have won the World Cup in 82 is a far fetched one for sure but the way this book is written it is a believable option. Thanks for the ride. A must read for any soccer coach or administor.

Surprisingly exciting! Who would have thought a book about soccer could be a page turner. I recommend The Ten Shirt to any soccer fan or person wanting to learn about the game and its history in a fast-paced style. If there were 10 stars available, I'd give it a Ten!

Oh, if only!!!! The only conclusion you can draw aftr reading this book. Will make any soccer Mom, Dad or player cheer. Well-written and a fun read!!!

Fun. Historical fiction piece oh what could have been. If only this was what would have happened in the 60s & 70s

Let's put it this way, this is a fun book if you are into history. It's a fun book if you are into Soccer this is a fun book. Michael, has a way of telling a story that people just want to continue to read. He weaves in the history of the sport, and the fictional people into the story.