With the Taika Waititi-directed feature-film version of this story coming to cinemas soon, here’s our review of the original 2014 documentary of the same name, Next Goal Wins from directors Mike Brett and Steve Jamison.
In 2001, American Samoa made history by receiving what was then the worst loss in football history during a qualifying match for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. After losing 31-0 to Australia, American Samoa were dubbed the World’s Worst Team and were dogged by defeat ever since. While many would have used such demoralizing news to poke fun at the team, directors Mike Brett and Steve Jamison crafted a documentary to celebrate instead how the team continues to play despite such defeats.
At the time, Football was a relatively new sport to American Samoa which was getting bigger. As such, the team contained no professional footballers and relied on the players to partake for free,...
In 2001, American Samoa made history by receiving what was then the worst loss in football history during a qualifying match for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. After losing 31-0 to Australia, American Samoa were dubbed the World’s Worst Team and were dogged by defeat ever since. While many would have used such demoralizing news to poke fun at the team, directors Mike Brett and Steve Jamison crafted a documentary to celebrate instead how the team continues to play despite such defeats.
At the time, Football was a relatively new sport to American Samoa which was getting bigger. As such, the team contained no professional footballers and relied on the players to partake for free,...
- 12/6/2023
- by James Rodrigues
- Nerdly
Directors: Mike Brett, Steve Jamison; Starring: Thomas Rongen, Jaiyah Saelua, Nicky Salapu, Rawlston Masaniai; Running time: 98 mins; Certificate: 15
Right now we're at the business end of the 2013/14 football season - teams are battling it out to secure trophies, scrapping for every point, each margin of victory crucial with millions of pounds on the line. At the highest level where the sport is a cut-throat business, the beautiful game can be ugly.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the story of the American Samoa national team. In 2001 they were pounded 31-0 by Australia and followed it up with 30 consecutive defeats, during which time even a goal in the 'for' column was a collector's item. They ranked rock bottom of the FIFA rankings going into qualification for the World Cup 2014.
Documentary Next Goal Wins charts American Samoa's qualification campaign from the perspective of the team's more outgoing characters and their Dutch coach,...
Right now we're at the business end of the 2013/14 football season - teams are battling it out to secure trophies, scrapping for every point, each margin of victory crucial with millions of pounds on the line. At the highest level where the sport is a cut-throat business, the beautiful game can be ugly.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the story of the American Samoa national team. In 2001 they were pounded 31-0 by Australia and followed it up with 30 consecutive defeats, during which time even a goal in the 'for' column was a collector's item. They ranked rock bottom of the FIFA rankings going into qualification for the World Cup 2014.
Documentary Next Goal Wins charts American Samoa's qualification campaign from the perspective of the team's more outgoing characters and their Dutch coach,...
- 5/6/2014
- Digital Spy
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