A Beautiful Game

Wherever you are on earth, it's only a matter of time before you will come across children playing football. Another five minutes and you will probably find yourself having a ball rolled to your feet as an invitation to join in the game. Across every continent, football is a common language and a culture shared: a joy, a passion, an escape and an affirmation of identity understood and celebrated by children - and their parents - in every country on earth. For this unique collaborative project, football writer Tom Watt talked to the world's top footballers about growing up and falling in love with the game: Argentina's Lionel Messi and Brazil's Gilberto Silva; England's David James and Scotland's Craig Gordon; Italy's Fabio Cannavaro, Spain's Iker Casillas and France's Franck Ribery; South Africa's Benni McCarthy and Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu; the USA's Landon Donovan and Shunsuke Nakamura from Japan; and, the world's most famous player, David Beckham. The player's own words are brought to life with over 130 full colour images which offer rare, emotive and striking insights into childhood all over the world and celebrate football's ability to touch the lives of children - and adults - wherever the beautiful game is played.