Viva Colombia

Viva Colombia: A Social History of Colombian Football tells the story through 15 distinct episodes and 15 national team players.

The book covers everything from the joie de vivre of the Colombian style - personified by Carlos Valderrama - to the travails of Colombian society illustrated by the tragic murder of Andres Escobar in the aftermath of Colombia's 1994 group-stage exit. The narrative examines how personal stories interlink with the wider history of the nation.

Despite many complexities, Colombia is often reduced to a series of off-beam stereotypes which exoticise, eroticise or misrepresent it. This book offers a timely corrective, telling the story through the eyes of a number of its key historical protagonists.

From Colombia's first World Cup appearance in 1962 through to the present day, we discover what some of the most emblematic players to wear the shirt tell us about the Colombian nation.