_{By: Amanda Guarragi}

After Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder comes a true underdog story that has been fighting to be released. Next Goal Wins is a heartfelt football story about the American Samoa national football team. The team is historically known for their devastating 31-0 loss to Australia in the World Cup qualifying match in 2002. This film explores the team and the coach who came to save them. Like any sports film, it’s not about winning the game but your passion for playing the sport. Waititi added his humour and dramatized certain moments to make the story even more engaging. At times, his humour was underwhelming and didn’t suit the story with certain characters. However, Michael Fassbender stepped up and delivered one of his best performances. 

When it comes to Waititi’s humour, you either enjoy it or dread his writing. In this case, it’s mildly annoying, and the heartfelt story of the American Samoa team overpowers it. Fassbender plays washed-out soccer player (and now coach) Thomas Rongen. The beauty of Fassbender’s performance is that he perfectly delivers the cheesy jokes written by Waititi while flying off the handle in pure coach fashion. Fassbender balances Rongen’s harshness of coaching while peeling back the layers of his tough exterior. When Rongen is with the rest of the team, the banter and positivity counter his pessimism. They end up learning from each other to move forward from their past. Rongen’s story with his daughter was a bit underdeveloped, and even though Fassbender delivered a tender moment, it was still not fleshed out. 

The main issue with Next Goal Wins is the constant shift in focus on the players. It played out like the third season of Ted Lasso, where the character backstories felt rushed, and no one had enough time to grow. Of course, Rongen and the team develop a rapport in the end, but the characters feel jumbled. The one character that was treated poorly was Jaiyah (Kaimana), who is a trans-girl on the American Samoan team. It felt like Waititi was using her as an example for all trans athletes, which did more harm than good. Instead of highlighting Jaiyah’s talent as a football player, the finger-pointing was more towards her being trans on the team. Then toward the end, there’s an extreme pivot to build a bond between Rongen and Jaiyah that felt forced to create a parallel with his daughter. 

Next Goal Wins is a generic underdog story with a fun cast and a great performance from Fassbender. The importance of learning and growing at any stage in your life is what makes this film heartfelt. The members of the American Samoan team have always believed in themselves and continued to play the sport they love. Coach Rongen lost his love of the game after what happened to his daughter and spiralled. The pain inside him turned into anger, and he let all that out on the field. Every pessimist needs an optimist and that’s exactly what Tavita (Oscar Knightley), the head of the American Samoan Soccer Association was for Rongen. It’s more of a cathartic journey for Rongen, while the team becomes more skilled and learns how to play the game of football.