The side suffered a World Record 31-0 loss at the hands of former OFC Member Association Australia in 2001 – earning themselves the moniker of ‘the worst team in the world’ as they struggled to recover over the next ten years.
The feel good movie charts the side’s World Cup qualification campaign ten years after that fateful match, with former Dutch professional Thomas Rongen at the helm.
On arrival in American Samoa, Rongen finds a team consisting of an emotionally scarred goalkeeper, a collection of clinically obese ‘athletes’ and the first transgender player ever to compete at international level. Further complication matters is the fact the country’s best player has joined the US Army and now lives thousands of kilometres away.
Rongen has one month to put the players through their paces as they get set to embark of a gruelling World Cup qualification campaign.
The film crew, and directors Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, followed the team from Rongen’s arrival through to the 2011 OFC Stage 1 Qualifiers in Apia, Samoa documenting the highs and lows as the side sought to accomplish the unthinkable – win an international match.
“It’s incredible how much of a long shot it was for us to fly 10,000 miles around the world on the off-chance that American Samoa would finally break their 17-year losing streak in such an extraordinary way,” Brett said.
Producer Kristian Brodie says the crew were embedded with the American Samoa national team for months at a time.
“We can’t wait to bring our story to a global audience on the eve of the World Cup in Brazil,” Brodie says.
To watch the trailer for Next Goal Wins click here

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