Goal! The Dream Begins (2005)

Goal! The Dream Begins (2005) Full Recap

In a small village in Mexico, a family packs everything they own in the middle of the night. A young boy named Santiago grabs the one thing he can't live without, a soccer ball. The adults hurry the kids into the back of a truck, and nobody says a word the whole way. They cross the border into America in the dark.

Border Patrol lights sweep the hills. In all the running, Santiago drops his ball and he goes back for it. A voice in the dark yells at him to leave the stupid ball, but he won't let it go. Years later, Santiago Munes is all grown up, and he lives in Los Angeles. During the day, he cleans pools and ms lawns for rich families with his father.

He stands in their gardens and looks at their swimming pools and their big houses. It's a whole different world, and it isn't his. But every weekend, he plays soccer in a local park league, and nobody on the field can touch him. After the game, he takes the bus home to a small house in East LA, where he lives with his father, his grandmother, and his little brother.

His mother walked out on the family years ago, and nobody in the house talks about it. His father works hard, drinks too much, and keeps everything inside. At night, he works in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant. He has been saving every dollar he makes and hiding it in an old boot.

His father has a different plan for that money. He wants to buy a truck and start their own gardening business. To him, that's the American dream, not soccer. One Saturday, an Englishman is standing on the sidelines. He's in Los Angeles to watch his young grandson play, but he can't take his eyes off Santiago.

After the game, the man walks over. His name is Glenn Foy. He used to play professional soccer in England, and later he worked as a scout. Glenn tells Santiago he has real talent, the kind you can't teach. Then he says he knows a sports agent and he'll bring him to Santiago's next game.

Santiago tells his father. His father laughs at him. There are two kinds of people in this world, he says. The ones who live in the big houses and the ones who cut their grass. Forget the dream. Buy the truck. That's how things get better. Meanwhile, the agent Glenn called is busy at a fancy party, and he isn't really listening.

On the day of the big game, Santiago plays the best game of his life, but the agent never shows up. Glenn is embarrassed. He tells Santiago he's sorry. He has to fly home to England tomorrow. Santiago tells him, "Maybe his father is right. If you dare to dream, you get screwed." But Glenn isn't ready to give up.

At 3 in the morning, he calls the manager of Newcastle United, one of the biggest clubs in England. The manager, Eric Dornhelm, once fired Glenn as a scout. Glenn tells him he just found a remarkable talent. All he asks is a promise. If the kid shows up at his door, will he give him a try out?

Dawnhelm says yes, just so he can go back to sleep. The next day, Glenn finds Santiago at work. If Santiago can get himself to England, Newcastle will give him a trial. His father is furious. He tells Glenn to stop filling his son's head with crazy ideas. Glenn leaves Santiago his number and tells him to think about it.

That night, his little brother asks if he's going. Santiago counts the money in his boot. He's still $400 short of a plane ticket. Two more weeks of work and he'll have enough. Then he comes home and sees a new pickup truck parked in front of the house. His savings are gone. His father took the money from the boot and used it to buy the truck.

Santiago screams at him. His father tells him the dream is stupid. When he fails in England, how will he come back without papers? He says a man takes care of his family. Santiago tells him it's his own life, not his father's. Across the ocean, Newcastle United introduces its newest star, Gavin Harris, a flashy striker the club just bought for millions.

When Santiago comes home, his grandmother is waiting for him. She hands him a plane ticket to London. He asks her how she paid for it. She tells him she sold some old things from the past. When his mother left, she promised God she would help her boys follow their dreams. He deserves this chance.

Take it. So, Santiago flies to England with one bag and almost no money. He has never been outside Los Angeles. At passport control, he tells the officer he's there to play for Newcastle. The officer laughs. They need all the help they can get. From London, he calls Glenn. He asks him how to get to Newcastle.

Glenn meets him at the train station. He's surprised to see him, but he tells him he can stay at his house. Welcome to the tune. At Glenn's house, Santiago gives him a gift from his grandmother, a little cross she has had since she was a girl. Glenn says he's not much of a Catholic.

Santiago tells him she thinks he's a good man. The next morning, Santiago goes for a run on the beach. Newcastle is cold, gray, and wet. Nothing like California. Glenn fixes and restores old cars now. He says he was finished a while back, just like some of these cars. Then he hands Santiago some money for breakfast, and he won't take no for an answer.

At a little cafe, Santiago listens to the locals argue about the team. In London, there are lots of teams. In Manchester and Liverpool, there are two each, but up here, there's only one. Up here, football is a religion. Then Glenn takes him to St. James's Park, the club's giant stadium.

Santiago has never seen anything like it. Glenn tells him to look the manager in the eye. He catches the manager, Eric Dornhelm, on his way in. Dornhelm barely remembers his promise, but he keeps it. Santiago can train with the reserves today. At the training ground, the reserve coach tells Santiago he's on his side.

Then the practice game starts. It's pouring rain and the field is pure mud. Santiago has never played in anything like it. The English players are bigger and faster. One of them knocks him down again and again. He can hardly breathe and he keeps slipping. Only once he does something special.

He takes the ball on the bounce and spins right past a defender. After the game, Dornhelm tells Glenn there won't be a tomorrow. Santiago sits in Glenn's car crushed. He tells Glenn his father always said people have a place in life. But Glenn isn't done. He walks into a fancy club dinner without an invitation and finds Dornhelm.

He tells him the kid flew 6,000 mi on Glenn's word. The boy was jet-lagged, nervous, and he had never seen mud in his life. And Dornhelm spent most of the trial on his phone. Glenn reminds him of that one moment of magic. Just give him a month. Back at the house, Santiago finds an old scrapbook.

Glenn used to be a star player for Newcastle until he hurt his knee. Then Glenn hands him a black and white Newcastle shirt. He just wants to see what Santiago looks like in it. And then Glenn tells him the news. Dornhelm said yes. Santiago has a one-mon trial. Santiago starts training with the reserves.

A big defender named Jaime welcomes him by kicking him all over the field. Jaime is a local guy who has spent years in the reserves and he isn't happy to see some new kid from LA. But after a few days, the two of them become friends. Then comes the club physical. The nurse Ros asks him if he has any breathing problems.

Santiago looks at the form for a long time. Then he lies. He says no. He has asthma, but he's sure that if he tells them, they will send him home. While she takes his blood, she notices a gang tattoo. Santiago tells her there are three ways out of a gang. You get shot, you go to jail, or you have a grandmother who kicks some sense into you.

Sorry, guy. On the beach, Glenn gives him advice. Most players play it safe. The great ones take risks. One night, the players take Santiago out in town. At a bar, he runs into Ross again. She tells him not to change and not to become something he's not. She jokes that she has seen the whole team naked in her job, and Santiago laughs for the first time since he got to England.

But on the field, Santiago keeps trying to do everything by himself. The coach stops practice. He tells the team to run as fast as they can to the goal. Then he kicks the ball there. The ball always gets there first. Here they pass. They are a team. The name on the front of the shirt matters more than the name on the back.

Meanwhile, Newcastle's first team is struggling. Their expensive striker, Gavin Harris, spends his nights partying. In one big game, he plays so badly that Dornhelm pulls him off the field. A few weeks later, Santiago finally makes the reserve team. He runs straight to the hospital to tell Ros still in his training gear.

He only has one week left on his trial and the next game will decide everything. They walk along the river past the bridges of the city. Ros tells him she doesn't trust famous footballers. Her own dad was a rock star who walked out on his family. Santiago tells her it was his mother who left.

His father has never even seen him play. Back in Los Angeles, his grandmother proudly tells the family about the news. His father won't listen. On the day of the big reserve game, Santiago can't find his inhaler. On the field, he can barely breathe. Every run leaves him gasping. He's slow and lost, and the ball keeps getting away from him.

One of the opponents mocks him. The coach takes him off early. Dornhelm tells him he has the skill, but maybe not the pace or the stamina for the English game. He's letting him go. Maybe he'd be better off back in LA. Santiago goes to see Ros to say goodbye. He tells her the truth.

He has asthma and he hid it. Now it's too late. He's leaving tomorrow. The worst part is that he let everyone down. The next morning, Santiago gets into a taxi to the train station, but the taxi makes a detour. Gavin Harris is stuck on the other side of town after a long night and he needs a ride to training.

He jumps in. Santiago tells him what happened. So Gavin drags Santiago into Dornhelm's office. He tells the boss that letting this kid go would be a big mistake. All the players can see he's got it. And Gavin explains the real problem. Santiago lost his inhaler. He has asthma. Dornhelm tells Santiago that lying is a problem.

Asthma is not. It can be treated. Santiago tells him he never had a real doctor, just a free clinic in LA. All he wants is a chance to prove himself. Dornhelm gives it to him. He can report for training. With the right medicine, Santiago is a different player. He can finally run for the whole game.

Jaime and the other reserves start getting him the ball because they know what he can do with it. He plays with the reserves and he starts scoring goals. Newcastle gives him a contract until the end of the season. He moves in with Gavin in a big apartment by the river. Ros isn't so sure about Gavin's lifestyle, but Santiago tells her Gavin saved him.

Gavin's agent starts talking to Santiago, too. He promises him big money and big ads if he makes the first team next season. Santiago calls home. His little brother is excited, but his father won't come to the phone. Then Santiago doesn't find his name on the reserve list and he's upset.

The coach smiles. He isn't on the reserve list because he's on the first team bench. They play Fulham in London on Saturday. In London, Santiago sits on the bench in a first team tracksuit. The TV announcers call him a complete unknown, a kid found in a park in Los Angeles. Back in Los Angeles, his father walks into a bar where the game is on TV.

He orders a beer and watches quietly. He doesn't tell anyone why he's there. Late in the game, Dornhelm sends Santiago on. In the bar in LA, his father stands up and tells everyone that's his son. With his first touches, Santiago runs straight at the defense. He skips past one player, then another, and he gets taken down in the box.

Penalty. Newcastle scores from the spot and they hang on to win. But Dornhelm isn't impressed. He tells Santiago that two teammates were in a better position and he never even looked at them. He went for glory instead of passing. After the game, Gavin takes him out in London. They meet some of the biggest stars in the world.

Players Santiago used to watch on TV. Then Gavin takes him to a wild party and Santiago doesn't want to be there. He goes outside. A woman out there tells him most of the girls inside wouldn't need him to say a word. Santiago tells her he already has a girl. The next day, a scandal photo of Gavin's wild party is in the newspapers, and Santiago's face is in it.

Dornhelm is furious. He asks him who the other player was. Santiago won't tell him, and Ros has seen the picture, too. She doesn't want to talk to him. Then, Santiago finds his friend Jaime in the hospital. He hurt his knee in a reserve game. The doctor says his career is over. Santiago goes home and tells Gavin he's throwing his life away.

His girlfriend left because of his friends. One of those friends sold the party photo to the newspaper. Any one of them could get hurt like Jaime. They're one bad tackle away from flipping burgers. Get out. Back in Los Angeles, Santiago's little brother finds their father on the floor.

He's had a heart attack. Glenn gets the call and tells Santiago his father is dead. Before Santiago leaves, Gavin goes to Dornhelm. He tells him it was his fault. He dragged Santiago to that party. Santiago didn't even want to go. At the airport, Santiago sits and waits for his flight home.

Then he thinks about something. He goes back to the training ground. He tells Glenn that at the airport, he realized he finally had an excuse. a reason to tell everyone why things didn't work out. That's how his father made him think. But he doesn't need an excuse. The only person who can tell him he's not good enough is the manager.

And even then, he may not agree. His grandmother tells him she understands. It's God's will. And Ros forgives him. She tells him home is a green field with a goal at each end. On the day he should be flying to LA, Santiago walks out alone onto the field of the empty stadium. He just wants to know how it feels to stand there.

Goal! The Dream Begins (2005) Ending Explained

Dornhelm finds him there. He tells him it's a hard thing to lose a father. He lost his, too. Then he tells him to get off the grass. They'll find out on Saturday how it feels. Now get off the grass. Santgo is in the squad for the last game of the season. Glenn and his friends at the garage celebrate.

One of them swears he saw it coming from day one. He didn't. Then Gavin pulls up in his sports car to take Santiago out. And for once, the plan is pizza and a movie. Then comes the last game of the season at home against Liverpool. Newcastle must win to make it to Europe or all the money and glory goes to Liverpool.

Ros, Glenn, and Jaime are all in the crowd and Santiago starts the game. The match is fast and rough. Then Gavin Harris scores first and the stadium explodes. But Liverpool hits back and then they score again. 2 to one. The stadium goes quiet and the fans start to lose hope. If it ends like this, Liverpool goes to Europe.

Then Santiago remembers what the coach taught him. Instead of shooting, he passes. And Newcastle scores two to2. In the last minute, Newcastle wins a free kick right outside the box. Gavin hands the ball to Santiago. Santiago steps up with a whole city watching. He takes a deep breath and he curls it over the wall and into the top corner.

Newcastle wins and 50,000 people sing his name. In Los Angeles, his grandmother and little brother scream in front of the TV. After the game, his grandmother tells Santiago something on the phone. His father did see him play. He was in that bar in LA watching the Fulham game, telling everyone that was his son.

Santiago looks up at the sky and smiles. The boy who once went back across the border for his soccer ball made It