Tag: R9
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‘Dear England’ is a play to experience (2025)
My husband and I went to England on a bucket list trip. In American parlance, a bucket list is a list of things to do before you die, and we’re getting pretty old. So in Mar-2025, we went to London to attend two Premier League games and Leeds vs Milwall. If we had a free…
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![[Review] ‘The Playbook: A Coach’s Rules for Life’ (2020)](https://soccermoviemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/the-playbook-2020-thumbnail.jpg)
[Review] ‘The Playbook: A Coach’s Rules for Life’ (2020)
Click on my #Coaching tag, and you’ll see 24 documentary films and series that give insight on soccer coaches at all different levels. The stories range from youth to high school to Liverpool, Leeds, ManU, Barcelona, and Argentina. While I found something to learn in all these films, I highly recommend watching the Netflix series…
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Why didn’t CONMEBOL watch ‘The Final: Attack on Wembley’ (2024)
The 2024 Euros were played this past month in Germany. For the second time in a row, England failed to win the Final, but at least the tournament ran fairly smoothly. It was just 3 years since the last Final, but if you’ve forgotten what happened at the 2021 edition of Euro Sunday, then let…
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Female footballers in a story that is ‘Forever’ (2023)
The Swedish film Forever is the most authentic soccer movie drama I have seen. It should appeal to female footballers everywhere, as a realistic story they have experienced in some form directly or indirectly. The producers were looking for new ways to portray football on the screen, and they scouted all of Vastra Götaland to…
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Review: ‘Sir Alex Ferguson – Never Give In’ (2021)
We just started subscribing to Paramount+, and I was delighted to see that one of the movies available was Sir Alex Ferguson – Never Give In. It’s a delightful documentary that shows the depths and roots of the man, and how his environment shaped his coaching career.
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Review: ‘The Men Who Sold the World Cup’ (2021)
The Men Who Sold the World Cup was produced and directed by Daniel DiMauro and Morgan Pehme, two fellows who have built their careers with documentaries that explain corruption and evil-doing in a very accessible and entertaining way. This docuseries shows how corruption is cultivated and how difficult it is to capture the bad guys…
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Narco-fútbol made refereeing a ‘Dangerous Play’ (2022)
Bit by bit, HBO Max has gotten onto the fútbol bandwagon, and so far, they have put some very entertaining productions online. If you are a student of refereeing, narco-fútbol, or sports corruption, you will especially enjoy the documentary Dangerous Play (original title is Jugada Peligrosa) by Director Matías Gueilburt.
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Fulwell73 hits home with ‘Super Greed’ (2022)
Super Greed: The Fight for Football is the first faithful cinematic telling of the 48-hour debacle known as the European Super League (ESL). It will not be the last. Looking back to Apr-2021, you might recall the Super League with blurry pandemic memories. But because this documentary is from Fulwell73 and Sky Sports, whose business…
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#WeCAN docuseries (2022) sends a World Cup message
Canada Soccer’s #WeCAN World Cup Documentary Series is 7 enjoyable episodes that introduce you to the Band of Brothers who qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Fueled by his long love of Canadian soccer, Writer-Director Max Bell crafts a story of belief and build up that should convince Canadians they are destined…
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‘Soviet Football – The Untold Story’ (2017) in an hour
Soviet Football – The Untold Story came out just before the 2018 World Cup was held in Russia. This great little documentary needs to be required viewing for every soccer pundit, professional or amateur. French Writer-Director Nicolas Jallot provides everything you need to know about Soviet football (советского футбола) history in under an hour.
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‘Ted Lasso’ (2020) – loved the series, hated the ending
There are so many reviews of this Apple TV+ original series, there isn’t much for me to add. Well, except for that bit about hating the ending. But let me start by saying Ted Lasso is one of few things that I can be thankful for this year, outside of my family and friends. This ensemble…
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2015 film shows Bari eat bread and football
In his 2015 docufilm Una Meravigliosa Stagione Fallimentare, Director Mario Bucci creates a remarkable homage to his home club, located in the city of Bari on the southeast coast of Italy. The charm of this film comes from the innocent appeal of the players. There are also the tongue-in-cheek presentations of the kit men and…
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Teen Voice – ‘Yellow Cards for Equal Pay’ (2020)
It is unbelievable to me that this story and its background were captured by a young soccer player. Being a long-time filmmaker since age 13, Maia Vota created this short film as a high school senior. Soccer movie fans should watch this 11-minute film for that fact alone, but you should really watch it because…
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‘Take Us Home: Leeds United’ (2019) leaves you longing for Season 2
As we all struggle on with the pandemic, one of the things we miss most is sporting events — the hot dogs, the beer, the chance to be with like-minded souls and scream in unison at a goal or a bad foul. For some, streaming sports documentary series at home is a modest substitute. Writer-Director…
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‘Meninos de Kichute’ (2010) an engaging look back at Brazilian life
I watched Meninos de Kichute on TubiTV and was surprised to find such a well-crafted film that I had never heard of. Set in 1975, the story shows life in a small Brazilian city, where for men a status car is a Dodge Dart or a Karmann Ghia, and for boys, it is a pair of…
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‘Bigil’ (2019) a highly entertaining football film
Bigil was one of the top Indian moneymakers in 2019, and deservedly so. It wins the box office battle on the shoulders of a high powered star who leads across multiple fronts: drama, romance, football, martial arts action, music videos, and supporting strong females.
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‘Soccertown USA’ (2018) the Jersey Boys of soccer
Soccertown USA is a treasure of painstaking research conducted by Writers Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell. For years, I had wondered why so many US National Team players and referees came from New Jersey. This documentary explains how the Town of Kearny, a suburb of Newark, NJ, was a working class neighborhood of immigrants who…
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Why I loved ‘The English Game’ (2020)
A period drama about football is unique. A well-crafted tale in this time of pestilence is a joy and a comfort. The English Game, how football became the people’s game, is elegant soap opera and luscious escapism to a simpler time. Three nights in a row, to close out my shelter-in-place day, I self-administered dollops…
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‘Streetball’ (2010) best Homeless World Cup movie
Streetball is not just another homeless world cup film, it is the best of its genre. Despite being 10 years old, this documentary is fresh, vibrant, and still relevant in its reflection of the world today. Streetball also stands out as one of the few homeless world cup (HWC) films where the soccer is as engaging…
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The story you never heard about ‘The Team That Never Played’ (2010)
If you are looking for a great idea for a soccer movie, you should buy the rights to this 10 year old documentary The Team That Never Played. Gather up the players interviewed by Writer-Director Greg Appel and fill out their stories while they can still be recalled. This is history that deserves to be…
