Goal! (also known as Goal! The Dream Begins! in the United States) is a 2005 film directed by Danny Cannon.
This is the first installment of a trilogy named Goal!. This film was made with full cooperation from FIFA, which is one of the reasons actual teams and players are used throughout the movie. The second installment, Goal! 2: Living the Dream..., was released in February 2007. The third installment, Goal! 3: Taking on the World, was released straight to DVD in June 2009.
Plot
The film starts with a clip showing Santiago Muñez playing football as a child in Mexico. The same night, his family head to the US border with the intention of illegally entering the United States to find a better life. With a United States Border Patrol van approaching, they all scramble to get through the fence. During the commotion, Santi drops his prized football, but does not return to get it.
Ten years later, Santi lives in the Barrio section of L.A. and now works with his father as a gardener. At night, he works as a busboy in a Chinese restaurant, where he unsuccessfully attempts to get a promotion as a waiter. He also plays football for a small local team called AJFC. He goes to play a match one day after his work with his father, where he is forced to use a pair of cardboard pieces as shin guards as he cannot afford any. He saves his money and hides it in his shoes every night to purchase a football kit.
The next day, while playing football, he is noticed by Glen Foy, an ex-Newcastle player, scout and presently a car mechanic. Glen tells Santi that on the next match day, he will call an agent who was in US to set up a meeting with the Newcastle manager. The agent, Barry Rankin, does not turn up and told a lie that he is in a meeting. Later, Glen himself calls the Newcastle boss and convinces him to give Santiago a trial. Glen then tells Santiago that, if he can get to England, he will be allowed a try-out with Newcastle United. Santiago would like nothing more in the world than to join the club. However, he does not have sufficient funds, so he decides to save up some more money and use it along with his hidden stash. He returns home one afternoon, to find that his father has stolen his money hidden in the shoes, and used it to purchase a new Chevy truck, so they can have their own gardening business. When Santiago confronts his father, he explains that "This is how things get better! This is how you measure a man's life," to him. Santiago suddenly shouts at his father, "It's your life!" and sulks in his room. His own father never watched any of the games he played. His grandmother sells off part of her jewelery and buys a ticket for Santi to travel to London.
On arrival in England, Glen warmly welcomes Santi to his house and arranges for a try-out. Santi completely messes up his first try-out and is rejected by the manager. Glen then manages to convince the manager that Santi was jetlagged, nervous and unused to playing on muddy pitches. Glen requested for a month's trial, which is accepted. At the same time, Newcastle signs Gavin Harris. Santi successfully passes the medical test by lying about his asthma condition, and meets the club's nurse Roz Harmison. One night, Santi and teammate Jamie, go clubbing and bump into Roz. After a month, in a reserve game, another jealous teammate crushes Santi's inhaler. Because of this, he plays very poorly due to his asthma and is substituted. The reserve team manager decides to release Santi because of his poor game.
On his way to the airport, Santi accidentally meets Harris on the same taxicab because he's late for training as his car tires were stolen. Harris remembers seeing Santi in the club and finds out what happened in the reserve game. Harris convinces the manager to extend Santi's stay at the club. After treatment at the club, Santi is able to play more confidently and aggressively in the reserves. He finally makes it into the first team, even though he thought that he was dropped entirely from the reserves. He starts as a substitute against a match against Fulham as many of the first team players were injured. He gets his chance when a player is injured and manages to win a penalty for Newcastle which ultimately won them the match. Meanwhile, his father watches the match on TV in the USA and cheers for his son. The manager informs Santi that his weakness was that he does not pass the ball. Santi is then transferred back to the reserves. Santi, thinking he won't be able to stay long at the club, goes to St. James' Park just to feel how it is to play on the pitch. The manager tells him to get off the pitch and that he could get the feeling when he played in Newcastle's final game against Liverpool.
Back in Los Angeles, while finishing a gardening job with Santi's brother, Santi's father dies of a heart attack. Santi learns of this before the match and becomes devastated. While in the airport waiting for his flight back to Los Angeles, he decides not to return and stays to play in the final match against Liverpool.
His teammate, Jamie, tears an excruciating ligament in his leg during a reserve game and Roz reveals that Jamie would never play football again, causing Santi additional grief.
In the match against Liverpool, Newcastle takes the lead first thanks to a goal from Harris. Before half-time, Liverpool makes a comeback with two goals, one from Igor Biscan and one from Milan Baroš. In the dying minutes before injury time, Santi assists Harris in scoring the equalizer by finally passing the ball to him and correcting his major drawback in football. However, a draw is not enough to earn Newcastle a place in the UEFA Champions League next season. In the dying minutes of the injury time, Harris is tripped and Newcastle gain a wide free kick. Harris lets Santi take it instead of him. Santi, with the hopes and prayers of the whole city of Newcastle resting on his shoulders, scores with a free kick swinging away from the Liverpool goalkeeper. After the game ends 3–2 to Newcastle, Glen runs down the stands and gives his mobile saying that Santi's grandmother was calling. She is very happy and proud and congratulates her grandson. She also adds that his father did watch his first match. Santiago shouted to Glen that his father saw him play and was proud of him before he died. The film ends with Santiago shedding tears of joy while embracing his realized dream.
Cast listing
Cameo appearances
Many players playing in the premiership at the time of filming were seen in the film. The following all made some contribution to the making of the film.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on Oasis' Big Brother label and contains three Oasis songs unavailable elsewhere, including the exclusive Noel Gallagher song "Who Put the Weight of the World on My Shoulders?".
The soundtrack also contains a re-recorded version of Oasis' "Cast No Shadow" with Noel Gallagher on vocals and produced by UNKLE. Dave Sardy, a producer of two Oasis albums, also contributed a hard edged remix of their song "Morning Glory" for inclusion on the soundtrack.
External links
