This week I'd like to take a turn as Roger Ebert for a little while before I get around to the goings on of the past few days around the league. Tumbleweed Films has successfully put together a U.S. Soccer fan's dream. Hopefully, those very same fans will have the opportunity to see this film in their community some way, some how.
The film is titled The Goal - Claudio Reyna and it goes behind the scenes as U.S. Captain and midfielder, Reyna, attempts to make it through the World Cup qualifying process and into the World Cup with his teammates on the U.S. team.
Any U.S. soccer-mad fan will love every moment though some less than avid fans may lose a little interest during the multiple scenes showing Claudio's struggles in doctor's offices although this is an integral part of his personal road to the World Cup.
There's also the canned music that sometimes makes it hard to hear such guests as Jeff Agoos, Tony Vidmar, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, and Kasey Keller. These are relatively minor things though that can be easily dealt with.
Those kinds of minor faults still don't take away much from a film that encompasses so much about the U.S. team's march to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
Most fans already know how this story ends and if you didn't then some of the opening shots from South Korea might give it away. Yet, if you're like me and you wished that there had been some way that someone would have put together a memento encompassing the long journey from the back roads of Central America to the new age stadiums of the Far East then look no further. It even serves the dual purpose of paying homage to one of the greats of modern American soccer.
In a "blink and you'll miss it" kind of moment in the film there's also a short section that illustrates how Tab Ramos paved the way for kids like Claudio at New Jersey prep school, St. Benedict's. Of course even a brief mention of Tab would require the replaying of the infamous 1994 elbow samba performed by Leonardo on Ramos. It's nice to see in a film about Reyna that they did take the time to talk about Tab, however.
The film serves its purpose as a documentary of the ride and specifically Claudio's part in it all showing scenes at doctor's offices and stadiums in the U.S., England, Italy, and, of course, South Korea as Reyna fought off injury throughout the entire two year process. Then there's the fact that towards the end of the qualification run there were the reports that Reyna was considering retirement from the national team.
Obviously off the field distractions are not rare during any nation's World Cup qualifying process but nothing could have been more distracting than September 11, 2001 and the effect it had on the United States. That moment in time was shown in a subdued manner while capturing the thoughts of Reyna and his wife, former Tar Heel player Danielle Egan.
We also get some very up close moments with Claudio as he discusses his family life and his more hate than love relationship with CONCACAF refereeing. We also get to "meet" Reyna's parents, which highlights that for so long U.S. soccer has been an immigrant's game. It's also interesting to note that his parents made their way to the U.S. to afford themselves a better life while Claudio has made his way to Europe to do much the same. These kinds of moments, though, highlight that this film is about soccer and the life beyond the white lines.
Some of my favorite moments include a split screen view showing Claudio talking about the mysterious "hand out of Gregg Berrhalter's forehead" call that gave Costa Rica a penalty kick on one side whilst the replay of Reyna trying to get to referee Peter Prendergast after the call ran on the other side. Then there's the almost constant reminder of how close the U.S. came to not even making it to South Korea with nearly every qualifying match having some sort of elimination overtone to it. Of course my personal favorite moment(s) include the win(s) over Mexico in Columbus and Jeonju, the stunner over Portugal, and that moment when the team stood in front of Sam's Army and the rest of the U.S. Supporters section at Foxboro awaiting the final call from the other two matches in Central America to send the team to Asia, are all brought back to life here. That alone makes it well worth seeing but the depths to which this film goes to show the varying facets of Claudio Reyna's trip to the World Cup, possibly his last, make it essential viewing for any soccer fan.
To throw your support behind this film please contact the filmmaker, Brian Weidling, at: Suzibri@aol.com and help him get this released.
League Rumblings
Okay, this being my column I feel the need to rail against a couple of things. First of all, Brett Mosen was let go by the Silverbacks this week. Sorry, but I think this was a bad call. From what I know Mosen apparently did not fit into their plans and their front office did not fit into his plans. I doubt there will be any love lost between the two parties. Bad marks to the 'Backs also for waiting until this close to the season to let the axe fall. I had the pleasure of meeting Mosen at the Under 20 qualifiers at Charleston in November and can say that he should be missed in Atlanta but may not be by some fans.
A cup is a cup and the Silverbacks go into this season as defending Southern Derby champs. I may not have agreed with all of Mosen's tactics but I do believe that he is a top-notch coach. I'd even venture to say that if he wanted to make the voyage to the Great White North, Calgary might be a possible destination if the Storm want to make a serious go of this A-League thing in future years.
In other news there's the report that Brian Ching and Scott Vallow have left our esteemed company to ply their trade in MLS with the San Jose Earthquakes and the Colorado Rapids. Hopefully Ching will get the opportunity to play with San Jose but I'd really love to know what would have happened had the Sounders happened to have had another year left on Brian's contract.
Either way, getting to see DeRosario and Ching play with Landon Donovan next year should be both fun and encouraging for A-League players and fans. All the best to Scott and Brian whom I imagine are extremely happy to have another shot to impress at the MLS level.
There's also a new website on the ether that I think many of you folks would be interested in and it's called "The Travelers' Guide to American Soccer". If you're planning on taking some soccer trips this summer then I highly recommend you bookmark this site. Get to the site by going to this address: http://www.dansoccerzone.com/SoccerGuide/ and start planning those trips!
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