After facing a world record 31-0 defeat at the hands of
Australia in 2001, the tiny Pacific island of American
Samoa—officially the worst soccer team on earth—are still in search of their first competitive win. When
maverick Dutch coach Thomas Rongen arrives on
the island to help the team achieve this elusive goal
he discovers that his squad contains an emotionally
scarred goalkeeper and the first transgender player
ever to compete at an international level. The team has
not won a game in four years and half of the players
aren’t fit enough to play an entire game. To complicate
matters further, their best player has joined the US
military and now lives 6000 miles away. With the team
about to embark on a gruelling World Cup Qualification
campaign, Rongen has just one month to transform
them into winners—and perhaps learn a little about
himself along the way. Next Goal Wins is a hilarious and
moving exploration of what it really means to be
a winner in life.
Coach Thomas Rongen will participate in a Skype Q&As.
Co-presented by The Canadian Sport Film Festival.
Media Coverage
- Dork Shelf - "[An] immensely crowd-pleasing and almost bigger than life documentary."