Next Goal Wins, a new feel-good comedy directed by Academy Award winner Taika Waititi, opens Friday and depicts the famously losing American Samoa soccer team, which suffered a 31-0 FIFA loss in 2001, as it tries to change its fortunes.
So far it has gotten lukewarm reviews from critics, with the Chicago Sun-Times giving it a yellow card, the Detroit News going straight to red, and the Seattle Times saying it misses the net. The Arizona Republic, by contrast, called it “a film worth cheering for.”
Will you go see it? Can you come up with better soccer metaphors? If the “white savior” coach is an oaf, is that progress?
Here’s the trailer, enjoy!
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