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Goal! Or by its other title "Goal! The Dream Begins" is a film I watched when I was around ten years old, the second film had also released. I had never seen a film about football (soccer) that was on this scale, where the sport sequences were great and it was something they truly put time in to get right. The main reason is the co-operation from FIFA, which enabled the inclusion of FIFPro likenesses of real teams and players. That made everything more authentic and for the younger me, I loved everything about the film. How does it hold up now, more than fifteen years later? Well I agree, the screenplay isn't the best and relies heavily on cliches. It's like they did most cliches which worked and went with it. Does the younger audience mind this? I didn't and I think I speak for the majority of the younger audience. Another highlight is of course Kuno Becker as Santiago Muñez, his performance as an underdog sold me the first time and now too. The direction is also quite good, Danny Cannon is a great and stylish director (who went on to direct and write Gotham and Pennyworth, among other shows, but also directing the feature film Judge Dredd in 1995.

The film's premise: The extremely talented Santiago Muñez is spotted by a Newcastle United scout and given a chance at professional football.

The cast includes: Kuno Becker, Alessandro Nivola, Marcel Iures, Stephen Dillane, Anna Friel, Tony Plana, Kieran O'Brien, Sean Pertwee and Míriam Colón. Also by real life figures/football players: Alan Shearer and Zinedine Zidane. I'll go into the character Santiago Muñez next, played brilliantly by Kuno Becker. He's Mexican and an undocumented immigrant living in Los Angeles, a poor family. The thing I sympathized the most of his character is how he's an asthmatic, playing football. Something I did myself in my youth, as an asthmatic, then went on to play a few matches in what we call Korpens fotbollsliga in Sweden, translated to Raven Football League. Something everyone, high skilled or low skilled can sign up and play. In a way, I saw myself in Santiago Muñez. I love his acting, it's a great performance. The supporting cast all does a fine job.

Regarding the screenplay, I wrote about the cliches, and after a rewatch it's pretty clear. If you're to give criticism, the cliches hurt the screenplay. But I have to say, the three act structure works perfectly, perhaps mostly thanks to Danny Cannon's direction, also Chris Dickens brilliant editing. But what I want to say is how the script isn't terrible. It's far from great, it's just average. For the film, it works perfectly. It's written by Mike Jefferies, Adrian Butchart, Dick Clement, and Ian La Frenais. Danny Cannon uses visual storytelling to his advantage, often using the storytelling technique, show don't tell. Another thing to praise is the cinematography, done by Michael Barrett, and Danny Cannon's mise-en-scene.

To summarize, this is a sports film for everyone who likes or loves football (soccer). It's what Rocky is to the boxing sports film, both an underdog story with stellar sports sequences and great drama. Like what Scott Tobias wrote for The A. V. Club: "How much viewers care about what happens in Goal! Is directly proportionate to how much they care about soccer, because decent execution aside, there's an underdog fantasy movie just like this one for every sport." This is far from a perfect film, but to me, it's close to perfect. The rewatchability is high and I'll never get tired of watching it. Does the film deserve a 9/10 rating? To me it does, maybe not for someone else. But I'm glad this film exists. Because I also agree with Entertainment Weekly who wrote: "The cast, all around, is sterling. There's only one thing they don't need to bring back for the sequels, and that's the movie's appetite for every sports cliché there ever was." Something that they did, if I remember correctly. If you can look past every single sports cliché then you'll understand my rating.