Next Goal Wins

As World Cup fever begins to spread, Next Goal Wins captures the true essence of football: the love and passion of the sport.

The documentary style of Next Goal Wins is hugely inspiring for any audience, whether you enjoy football or not. “Ace” Lalogafuaua’s uplifting speech at the very beginning allows anyone watching this film to see how the constant defeats really impacts the team as a whole. The opening is based on the need “to prove them wrong”, which pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the film, allowing the audience to understand that the defeat is purely the driving force to keep doing what you need to do in order to eventually succeed.

The physical exhaustion of the team is explored as the film progresses, highlighting how taxing this sport can become just to prove everyone wrong. Those moments when they’re training in the rain hammers in the overall message that Brett and Jamison are trying to put across in their film, especially when young children are enthusiastically playing the sport. Visually seeing how determined these players are, there seems to be more of a connection to them as you’re introduced to their families. At times the connection players have with each other is deeply moving as they move away from just mere teammates to sharing deep bonds as if family, whether they win or not. That is a lesson that any audience member can learn from.

As the title suggests, the Next Goal Wins may be deeper than just mere football. These players dedicate their lives to their sport, and their passion is deeply inspiring.

Lauren Shean

Next Goal Wins is released nationwide on 7^th May 2014.

Watch the trailer for Next Goal Wins here: