Goal! The Dream Begins

Danny Cannon directs the FIFA-and-Premier-League-backed origin story of Santiago Muñez (Kuno Becker), an undocumented Mexican teenager in Los Angeles plucked by a chance scout for a trial at Newcastle United. The film's slickness is corporate but its best instinct is class anxiety — every scene is about whether Santiago belongs in the room, the dressing room, the training ground, the league. Match scenes use real Premier League broadcasts and real players, blurring fiction and ESPN highlights.

• Filmed with full FIFA and Premier League cooperation.
• Adidas was a major creative partner on the trilogy.
• Newcastle United plays a key role; St James' Park featured.
• Cameos from Alan Shearer, Zidane and David Beckham.
• Spawned two sequels in 2007 and 2009.

• You'll find life is full of opportunity. You get one shot.
• Believe and you will achieve.
• Football isn't a game. It's a dream.
• The pitch is where everything is honest.
• I came from nothing. So I have nothing to lose.