One summer morning seven years ago, a father and son walked to the shore of the Cantabrian Sea on La Concha beach, in San Sebastián. They advanced at a brisk pace, wanting to dive. Upon coming into contact with the water, they stopped in those northern summer moments in which, in tenths of a second, the temperature of the water and the advantages and disadvantages of bathing or not bathing are analyzed through their feet. The two remained silent, until the boy launched a question that seemed like a cluster bomb:
—Dad, can I ask you a question?
From a safe distance, one could see how that father’s lost gaze transformed into terror in the face of the transcendental issue that was to come.
—Sure, tell me.
—Do you think Bakambu is as good as they say?
The boy did not understand the relieved laughter of his father, who was trying to mentally reposition himself to respond to what really mattered to his son at that moment: the skill of the Franco-Congolese footballer.
Football is a meeting point for millions of people around the world. Also in the family environment. Well managed, it can even be a vehicle for learning values, history, geography, culture, mathematics or physics. Soccer is for smart people (geoPlaneta) is the original proposal of journalists Miguel Gutiérrez and Carlos Marañón who, through 161 stories – as many years as the first rules of football will be fulfilled in 2024 – cover the history of this sport in a fun and educational way. Supported by the illustrations of Fernando del Hambre, Marañón and Gutiérrez offer a book that invites reading, knowledge and conversation. Written from the love of football, with elegant simplicity, rigor, humor that is understandable for all ages, a global perspective of the game and with the idea that, no matter which page it opens, it offers readers an interesting story. Football—like life—is for smart people. And those who read to know more and better will have resources to face the transcendental questions that arise tomorrow. Also those that – like Bakambu’s – do not appear in the book.
