This book describes the fluctuating American appetite for soccer, and chronicles the game at college and professional levels. Wangerin also writes of the city of St. Louis's unique historic attachment to the sport, Tom Cahill, the "father of American soccer," and the 1979 North American Soccer League season.

In 2015, the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team Won its first FIFA championship in sixteen years, culminating in an epic final game that electrified soccer fans around the world. It featured a gutsy performance by midfielder Carli Lloyd, who made history that day, scoring a hat trick -- three goals in one game -- during the first sixteen minutes. But there was a time when Carli almost quit the sport. In 2003 she was struggling, her soccer career at...