Goal! (film)
| Goal! The Dream Begins | |
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U.S. theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Danny Cannon |
| Produced by |
Mike Jefferies Matt Barrelle Mark Huffam |
| Screenplay by |
Dick Clement Ian La Frenais Mike Jefferies Adrian Butchart |
| Story by |
Mike Jefferies Adrian Butchart |
| Starring |
Kuno Becker Alessandro Nivola Marcel Iureş Stephen Dillane |
| Music by | Graeme Revell |
| Cinematography | Michael Barrett |
| Edited by | Chris Dickens |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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118 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $33 million |
| Box office | $27.6 million |
Goal! (also known as Goal! The Dream Begins in the United States) is a 2005 sports drama film directed by Danny Cannon and produced by Mike Jefferies. It is the first installment of a trilogy also named Goal! This film was made with full co-operation from FIFA, which is one of the reasons actual teams and players are used throughout the film. The second installment, Goal II: Living the Dream, was released in February 2007. The third installment, Goal! III: Taking on the World, was released in June 2009.
Santiago Muñez (Kuno Becker) is a skilled footballer. The son of a gardener who lives in a barrio section of Los Angeles, Santiago works as a busboy in a Chinese restaurant and helps with his father's (Tony Plana) gardening business. His ultimate dream is to play football professionally. Due to his poverty and the fact that he plays solely for a club made up of Hispanics from a local car wash, he feels his chances are slim. Santiago is noticed by Glen Foy (Stephen Dillane), a former Newcastle United player who works as a car mechanic but still has ties to his old team. Glen arranges to get Santiago a tryout with Newcastle United, who recently signed talented new player Gavin Harris (Alessandro Nivola). Needing to get to England, Santiago begins to save his money in an old shoe, but his father finds the stash and takes it to buy a GMC truck to allow them to work for themselves, believing that Santiago's dreams are hopeless. His dream is not lost though, as his grandmother (Miriam Colon) sells off her jewellery to buy him a ticket to England.
Glen warmly welcomes Santiago to his home and takes him to the tryout. Unfamiliar with the English style, he performs poorly. Glen convinces the team's manager that Santiago needs a month's trial to show his full potential. Santiago does not tell club nurse, Roz Harmison (Anna Friel), that he has asthma. After a month, a jealous teammate crushes Santiago's inhaler before a reserve game. An asthma flare-up prevents him from being able to run hard, and his coach lets him go. While on his way to the airport Santiago meets Gavin Harris, who was late to arrive to the team. Harris finds out what has happened and makes Santiago explain it to the manager. The manager allows Santiago to stay, provided he gets treatment for the asthma. Santiago earns a contract for the reserves team and moves in with Gavin. Finally he gets onto the first team as a substitute in a match against Fulham. There he wins a penalty for Newcastle, which is taken by Gavin winning them the match. Unknown to anyone else in his family, his father watches the match on TV in the USA, and after finally watching his son play, he leaves a proud father. Despite the victory, the manager informs Santiago that his weakness is that he does not pass the ball off. That night, he and Gavin go out partying. A picture of the two winds up in the tabloid The Sun, causing anger from the manager. At the same time, Santiago's friend, Jamie, suffers a career-ending injury that only causes him additional grief.
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