The redemption story of the world’s worst soccer workforce is presently charming audiences all over the world. Subsequent Aim Wins is the story of how American Samoa, having beforehand misplaced 31-0 to Australia, would lastly win their first match in 30 years.
It’s the story of goalkeeper Nicky Salapu, persuaded to return after that harrowing defeat and profitable the admiration of his son. It’s the story of Jaiyah Saelua, the primary trans girl to compete in a World Cup qualifier. It is usually the story of Thomas Rongen.
“It has been a badass ride,” Rongen tells Sky Sports activities. The Dutchman who left Amsterdam as a younger man for a brand new life in america, Rongen is the villain of Taika Waititi’s film, as portrayed by Michael Fassbender, however a hero of the true story that impressed it.
In simply three weeks, this as soon as celebrated coach, who had gained the MLS Cup in 1999, turned this workforce into winners. His time on the island is about how he modified them but in addition about how its individuals modified him, serving to him to confront his personal private tragedy.
American Samoa didn’t simply change his life. It saved it.
“I had tried to take my life twice,” he says, matter-of-factly. His stepdaughter Nicole had died aged 19 in a automotive accident in 2004. There was unresolved trauma for Rongen. His spouse institutionalised him. “Thank God,” he says. “I am totally beyond that right now.”
The turning level got here in Polynesia. “It was a huge reset button for me. A lot of personal healing happened because of these beautiful people in American Samoa. They taught me to realise what is important in life and that also rekindled my love of the game.”
Earlier in 2011, Rongen had been fired for the primary time. “I was in such a bad place. I was driven by fear of failure. I had loved the game. I lost that somewhere down the line in the cynical professional environment.” He was persuaded to take a brand new problem.
He held out no nice hopes. He didn’t even know the place American Samoa was on the map. “To be really honest with you, I did not go there with the mindset of winning, quite frankly.” And but, how he achieved that is still a supply of fascination over a decade on.
“Other foreign coaches had not respected their culture, first and foremost. I feel that was huge in endearing me to the players. Dutch people, we are fairly liberal. We like to learn other cultures. Everything fell into place from there, personally and professionally.”
Rongen highlights two choices that will show essential.
One was instinctive however impactful. On the primary day of coaching, he had observed that the centre-back whose passport learn Johnny was being routinely known as Jaiyah by her team-mates. This was males’s soccer however she appeared to determine as a lady.
“I said: ‘Your passport says Johnny but I can hear the group calling you Jaiyah. What do you want me to call you?’ She said: ‘Coach, if you could call me Jaiyah.’ Without even thinking, I said: ‘Absolutely. You are Jaiyah.’ She told me I was the first coach to accept her.
“However it was the response of the group. As a result of the third-gender neighborhood is basically accepted throughout Polynesia, all of them hugged us each. That broke the ice. This was a man who accepts who we’re. It endeared me to the gamers. We grew to become very united.”
The opposite important determination was that on that very same day Rongen was capable of announce that he had satisfied goalkeeper Salapu to make his return to the workforce. The coach had learn articles about what the participant had been compelled to cope with within the aftermath.
“He claimed that he would beat Australia 32-0 on FIFA every night. He also told a story about walking down the street and people asking him if he was the goalkeeper in the 31-0 game. He said his son thought he was a loser.” It couldn’t be the tip of his story.
“I watched that game. I am telling you if it were not for him it could have been 50. I pretty much promised him we would win. I think my conviction persuaded him. I told him his son would think he was a hero. It became this incredible thing. Let’s do it for Nicky.”
For Rongen, the 2 choices had been fully logical however they had been additionally essential. “There is no doubt in my mind,” he says. “Those two situations came about spontaneously but they allowed us to be a united front from pretty much the day I came off the plane.”
If these choices immediately remodeled the temper among the many workforce, American Samoa remodeled him nearly as shortly. He describes himself as an atheist however after becoming a member of his workforce in church skilled what he calls a “wild spiritual ride” on the island.
“By the third day, my heart rate came down and I experienced certain things that led to me crying. My personal healing started. I began to look at things in a different way. Go with the flow. Be happy. It is not win at all costs. They taught me emotional intelligence.”
Collectively, they made historical past. Tonga had been crushed 2-1. Solely a one-goal defeat to Samoa ended their World Cup journey. “I looked in their eyes and for the first time I felt they believed they could win. That was the biggest victory.” Backside of the rankings, no extra.
Salapu, the as soon as beleaguered goalkeeper, had his redemption second. Shortly after the historic victory towards Tonga, the younger son who had as soon as seen him as a loser, now advised his father that he was his hero. “He cried. I cried. That was a rewarding moment.”
Hollywood covers that a part of the story – however with a twist. “The movie is a lot different,” says Rongen. He’s cautious to not criticise an excessive amount of and has performed an energetic half in selling the image however Fassbender’s portrayal is relatively much less sympathetic than the fact.
“When I first saw the movie alone in a big theatre in Miami where I live, I walked out with my head shaking, confused,” acknowledges Rongen. “It threw me off in the first scene and I could not catch up. They intertwine the death of my daughter. It was just crazy.”
In Toronto, he had phrases with the director. “I confronted Taika after a few drinks. I told him, ‘You’re killing me’. He told me, ‘I needed a villain and you were just the obvious one’. Most people are going to walk out of the theatre and think, ‘This guy Rongen is a d***’.
The reality is that the bond between that American Samoa workforce and their coach is as robust because it will get. Rongen highlights that in his personal inimitable manner. “I played for 10 teams in the old NASL,” he factors out, together with the Los Angeles Aztecs alongside Johan Cruyff.
“I was a youth coach for five years. A college coach. I coached four teams in MLS. I went to three U20 World Cups. I was head coach of the Olympic team. I am wearing my MLS championship ring that I won with DC United in 1999. I touched thousands of players.
“However I keep in contact extra with the gamers from American Samoa than with some other workforce. That tells you numerous. There’s a connection.”
There could even be an unlikely sequel.
Now 67, Rongen makes his living as an analyst covering Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami. But there has been an offer to return and coach American Samoa in their qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup. “They’ve requested me and I’m pondering it,” he admits.
“I advised Jaiyah and Nicky they usually wish to play once more. Let’s convey the band again collectively,” he laughs. But seconds later, he is being seduced by a script even Hollywood would baulk at. “There was a marked enchancment. If we might get by means of the primary section…”
He adds: “Perhaps you get second place and make the playoff to get to america. That’s far-fetched however we’ll see. The mere undeniable fact that I’m considering it at almost 68 tells you that this place rekindled a love for the sport that was completely lifeless.”
That is for the next film. For now, the story of Thomas Rongen’s first stint in charge of American Samoa is special enough. “I hope that folks take extra from the film than the expertise of simply watching a sports activities movie.” How might they not?