The Beautiful Game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The phrase "The Beautiful Game" as a synonym for football was first coined by Didi, a Brazilian superstar footballer[citation needed]. The Brazilian Portuguese expression Joga Bonito (to "play beautifully") parallels this phrase. In 1977 Pelé, one of football's greatest superstars, named his autobiography My Life and the Beautiful Game. The book's dedication read "I dedicate this book to all those who make the game beautiful".
However, Stuart Hall claims to have coined the phrase back in 1958[1].
The phrase has now entered the language as a colourful description for association football and as such was used as part of the title for the 13-part series charting the history of the game: History of Football: The Beautiful Game.
The term echoes J.C. Thring's description of the rules he helped develop for football in the middle of the 19th century, as The Simplest Game, which led to the development of the rules of association football.
[edit] See also
- The Beautiful Game (1999 film), known in the United States as The Match
- The Beautiful Game (musical)
- The Beautiful Game (album)
- The Beautiful Game (podcast)
- Beautiful Game Studios
[edit] References
- ^ Hall, S; Mayo, S: The Daily Mayo, 06 May 2009, BBC Radio 5 Live
