Une équipe de rêve

Next Goal Wins follows the American Samoa football team through their world cup qualifying games. They are famous for their record 31-0 defeat to Australia and being the worst team in the world.

You really don't have to like football at all to enjoy this excellent documentary. It has a host of natural but great personalities and it is refreshing to see people playing sport for the right reasons. It was nice to see the culture of the American Samoans which seems a lot more welcoming than many western cultures. The fact that no-one seemed to playing up to the camera at all is a credit to all participants.

I really enjoyed this uplifting and at times tear jerking documentary and highly recommend it to non football and football fans alike.

In 2001 American Samoa lost 31–0 to Australia. It was the worst defeat in international football. Things have not been much better for the American Samoa team since then. To qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup potential salvation comes in the unlikely form of Thomas Rongen, an American based Dutch soccer coach.

He commits for one month to give the team a fighting chance. During this brief period he focus on achievable tactics, fitness, a better defence as well as organising training sessions around the part time footballers. He also finds a couple of non island recruits who are of American Samoan heritage. Their form has been so bad that scoring a goal would be a bit of an achievement. It turns out that Rongen also has a personal tragedy to overcome.

The film also focuses on Jaiyah (Johnny) Saelua, a member of the team since 2003 but is the first trans-gender player to compete in a men's FIFA World Cup qualifier and is wholly accepted by the team. Samoan culture has a different attitude to trans-gender than in the west. We also see the unfortunate goalkeeper who let in all the goals against Australia.

Its a classic underdog and uplifting story but done in a minor key. Its nice to see football at the other end of the spectrum without overpaid prima donnas but for me the documentary was too formulaic and manipulative.

When deciding on what to see last night, I sarcastically suggested 'Next Goal Wins' to my friend. The joke was that football movies are generally underwhelming (besides, she not into football); the first problem being that it's hard to capture the intensity and excitement of 90 minute games in five minute scenes, the second being that if anything too amazing happens it's not believable. If Manchester City's last minute Premiere League win in 2012 was fictional, nobody would buy it. I knew nothing about the film, and after seeing that it was a highly rated documentary (currently 8.7 on IMDb) it sounded like a rare treat; a good football movie. So Ten years after an embarrassing 31-0 loss to Australia, the American Samoan football team begin their world cup qualifying campaign with help from a new coach, the US based Dutchman Thomas Rongen. Rongen's the main focus of the film, a high level manager taking on the challenge of coaching 'The World's worst team', an eccentric Dutch rock star, berating and bonding with the team in equal measure. In his first ten minutes on screen he shouts down FIFA officials, insists on climbing to the highest point of the island for his country, and shows his sense of humour by responding to the team's intimidating Haka with 'Well done, well done, well done. I just sh*t myself in my pants, seriously'. Also featuring heavily is goalkeeper Nicki Palapu, who carries the scars of humiliation from the record-breaking Australian defeat, and Jiyah Saelau, the world's first World Cup qualification transgender player, as well as two American ringers (distant American Samoan relatives allowing them in the team) brought in by Rongen.

The film shows interviews with the players and their families, coaching sessions and of course football matches, but much of the joy comes from watching the players bond, and as Rongen is introduced to the rich, loving culture of American Samoa, so are we. It feels like the 'bonding sessions' - players swimming, hiking and going to church together - is a way of life for American Samoans, and there are some lovely moments of sheer unadulterated friendship. Jaiyah Saelua is one of the more interesting players, a Fa'afafine, (the third sex of Samoa, born male but with both male and female traits, an important part of Samoan culture, dedicated to family). Her gender is accepted by the players, and in a sport rife with prejudice - homophobia and racism are big issues in modern football - it's lovely to see the players sing, dance and eat with their sister at night, after training hard with her in the day. Besides, she's an extremely likable screen presence. The American Samoan culture is the most escapist element of the film, and the idea of one big island family is very appealing. The Island is gorgeous, and the cinematography captures it beautifully. The film often looks like an advert for a digital camera, the team playing keepie uppie before the setting sun, or back-flipping out of the ocean (water is everywhere; it rains for at least half the movie), always in slow motion. These moments of spectacle are some of the most enjoyable in the film, and the combination of sublime moments of beauty and the tension of watching a team you have come to know and love make for excellent pacing. Indeed one of the only criticisms is that you are left wanting more after some of the fastest 97 minutes of your cinema life, and you'll likely miss the players when the film ends.

The games themselves are exciting; the editing is cinematic, and although the football isn't high quality, you're so invested in the players that it's as tense, joyous and desperate as watching your own team, and I had to refrain from cheering a few times in a fairly empty screening. It's like watching your kid's team play, only with tasteful, suspenseful slow motion. The theme of family and togetherness is the most prominent. The team has stuck together, facing constant defeat without a goal in the last seventeen years, and the sacrifices they make for each other, putting in hours of training before and after every full day of work is astounding. Filmmakers have tried to tell their story before, but fear of ridicule has denied them access to the team. Directors Mike Brett and Steve Jamison's angle however is the impressively noble fact that they even try when the odds are stacked so highly against them, and that the love of the game and each other is what's really important.

It's not very often I feel compelled to write a review on something I've watched, but "Next Goal Wins" is undoubtedly the BEST football themed docu-movie I have ever seen and indeed in my humble opinion one of the best movies I've ever watched. It grips you immediately from the start and is a true underdog story in every sense of the word, but this movie is much, much more than just a football documentary. It's so uplifting the way it approaches all the ideals, principles, morals and events and the hands that life deals us as you will find out upon viewing. The characters within the story are fascinating and in some cases "unusual" to say the least! If I had to make one criticism (and believe me I don't want to) it's the fact that I could have watched this easily for another hour I was that engaged by the story and the people in it and would have loved to have seen the next chapters in their lives, but to be fair to the makers of the film they got that just right as well. Simply brilliant, highly recommended to give you the feel good factor even if you're not a football fan.

Lots of passion is in front of the but, with the players and the coaches, and unfortunately there isn't nearly as much passion behind the camera.

The filmmakers may have let down a good story, because it's just not made as exciting or as emotional as it should be through the very ordinary visuals, music, and editing. Especially the last third - when things should logically be gripping - feels flat. I felt good for the people in front of the camera, but the competent at best filmmaking doesn't effectively form their stories into a complete and satisfying film. Some introducing subjects are introduced in the first third, and then forgotten about until the epilogue, for example.

Will be interesting to see if Taika Waititi can make this story into something better. I don't look forward to the inevitable criticisms of 2022's Next Goal Wins being criticised for having a white saviour trope (I mean, fingers crossed that doesn't happen), but I am looking forward to seeing what Waititi does. Hopefully it will be a little warmer, a little more passionate, and a little more fun, like the story deserves.