When we think of exciting, heart-touching sports stories think, then it’s about the World Cup. About cup games, perhaps about fantasy teams that shaped our childhood. What we don’t think about is a tiny Pacific island whose national team is the most horrific defeat in football history has to record. But as is so often the case, life writes the best stories.
That’s what Thor 3 director Taika Waititi thought when he made his warm-hearted, humorous underdog film Next Goal Wins. It’s based on the story of a completely team with no chance and presents Michael Fassbender as a trainer with an actually impossible task. You can now see whether all of this was a success in the streaming offer on Disney+.
X-Men star Michael Fassbender is supposed to achieve the impossible: just one goal
2014. USA. Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) is moody, drinks too much and, overall, barely remembers the football genius he once was. The United States Soccer Federation is also aware of this. In order to get rid of him and at the same time answer a call for help, they give Rongen a choice: he follows suit American Samoa and trains their national team – or he stops altogether.
Rongen reluctantly gets on the plane. When he arrives on the small Pacific island, he experiences one moderate culture shock. The people are friendly, but far too relaxed for him. Their calm attitude to life and their customs drive the performance fanatic crazy. He especially bites his teeth into trans woman Fa’afafine Jaiyah (Kaimana).
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Kaimana and Michael Fassbender in Next Goal Wins
His manager doesn’t ask much of him: just one goal. A single goal for the national team, who still carry with them their 0-31 humiliation against Australia from 10 years ago. Eventually Rongen realizes that he has to change his own perspective. And when he finally looks properly, he realizes that his team might not be as hopeless as he always thought.
Next Goal Wins on Disney+ tells a deeply loving story that opens our eyes to new things
Next Goal Wins is a story that many more people should hear about, but unfortunately it was somewhat lost in the cinema. A small Sports fairy tale You like to hear about a lovable underdog anyway. But Thomas Rongen and his team, in which everyone supports each other (and everyone!) without contradiction, stand for so much more.
They show what is possible when people are finally willing to not only overlook differences in origin, culture and appearance – but also to recognize with open eyes the strengths that define us as individuals and members of our communities. differences can be celebrated and lovingly united with one another. And in the end we are stronger than ever.
The Walt Disney Company Germany GmbH
Next Goal Wins
Taika Waititi is aware of this and lets us follow every second a lot of humor, but also feel a lot of love for what achievements people are capable of. The course of the film should seem familiar to everyone. The sporting surprises are not the strength of Next Goal Wins. It is the human twists and turns that open up new horizons, cultures and wisdom for us.
Anyone who wants to experience the incredible story of a small team with a lot of heart in their home cinema can do so from today with a streaming subscription on Disney+
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