03-20-2016 Next Goal Wins (2014) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2446600/
What could possibly motivate an international soccer team after they lost with an official record breaking 31-0? Next Goal Wins, a documentary written and directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, tells the story of the American Samoa football team, the laughing stock of the game after their big loss, internationally known as the worldâs worst team and at the bottom of the official FIFA ranking for ages.
The players find their motivation in their heart and in their soul. They might not have to skills to win any games, or to score any goals, but their hard work, faith and religion should bring them somewhere. An objective is set after the American Samoa football association hires Dutchman Thomas Rongen as their new head coach (incidentally, he was the only one that applied): the team wishes to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. As this World Cup is already done and over with, we all know American Samoa didnât reach the final stages of this tournament, but this story is not really about that, itâs about setting smaller objectives and trying to reach your goal step by step. If the opposition needed nine goals to advance to the next round and you only let them score eight, then thatâs a personal win. And if the personal win finally becomes a competitive win, the results are heart warming.
A story told with zest, edited to occasional comic effect (it is funny to see a team playing this badly, shooting balls way out of range for goalkeeper and goal) and also focusing on the smaller stories, Next Goal Wins is an exciting documentary. It not only covers the soccer story, but also personal stories; of the first transgender person playing an official game, or of an American player whose grandparents are from American Samoa and finds family and friends in a place he hasnât been to in years, or the sad story of the coach who lost his daughter in an automobile accidents years earlier.
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