Next Goal Wins: Taika Waititi’s film deals with the story of football coach Thomas Rongen

A small trivia - what is unique to the Australia vs American Samoa football match of 2001?

Hyderabad: A small trivia – what is unique to the Australia vs American Samoa football match of 2001? Australia set a world record for the largest victory in an international football match, winning the game 31–0. Australia’s Archie Thompson also broke the record for most goals scored by a player in an international match by scoring 13 goals.

There are many more in the match, details of which I refuse to delve into. What does this have to do with Next Goal Wins? Taika Waititi’s film deals with the story of Dutch American football coach Thomas Rongen and his journey in ensuring the American Samoa football team reached 173 rd rank in the FIFA World Rankings.

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To the uninitiated, it was also a 2014 documentary by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison.

Rongen faces two options: one – getting fired; two – to convert the American Samoa national team, considered one of the weakest football teams in the world, into an elite squad. A la a sports drama with a particular template, you have the former coach who is the regular tour organiser; you have the players who are too laidback to connect foot to ball, let along muster up the fighting spirit needed to win matches, the new coach who threatens to quit often but something holds him back and not to mention, winning the hearts (or the match) at the climax.

What is interesting in this 104 minute outing is the cast. You have Kaimana playing the first fa’afafine or trans player Jaiyah Saelua and Michael Fassbender as coach Rongen. Fassbender is a versatile actor but he would not be on top a list of actors who can essay the character of a coach.

Unfortunately, the story is not about the rise of the team or of the camaraderie of the team but lays a lot of emphasis on “white saviour” (as one character puts it). Waititi is careless to a fault, and this shows on screen.

One scene worth mentioning in this melee of misfortune is when the team’s haka finally comes together. Though it does not the same emotion of the New Zealand rugby team, it does showcase the emotion of a very proud tribe. Luckily, in comparison with the Bollywood, this sport biography’s narrative is not too dramatic.