Goal II: Living the Dream

Goal II: Living the Dream is the sequel to the football film Goal!. It was written by Mike Jefferies, Adrian Butchart and Terry Loane and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.[1] It was released on 9 February 2007 in the United Kingdom and 29 August 2008 in the United States.

Goal II: Living the Dream
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJaume Collet-Serra
Produced byMike Jefferies
Matt Barrelle
Mark Huffam
Screenplay byMike Jefferies
Adrian Butchart
Terry Loane
Story byMike Jefferies
Adrian Butchart
StarringKuno Becker
Stephen Dillane
Anna Friel
Leonor Varela
Rutger Hauer
Alessandro Nivola
Music byStephen Warbeck
CinematographyFavio Labiano
Edited byNiven Howie
Production
company
Milkshake Films
Distributed byBuena Vista International
Release date
9 February 2007 (UK)
Running time
115 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
Spain
Germany
LanguageEnglish
Spanish
Budget$45 million
Box office$70 million

Plot

Goal! II carries on from Goal! in which Santiago Muñez, who is now a successful footballer, gets transferred from Newcastle United to Real Madrid. His girlfriend Roz Harmison (Anna Friel) stays in England to complete her nursing training but they plan to see each other as much as possible. He has a good start for Real as he substitutes former teammate Gavin Harris (Alessandro Nivola), who is in bad form. However, life starts to get complicated when his half-brother Enrique tracks down Santiago and shows him a picture of his mother, who left his father years ago and now also lives in Madrid. This news sends Santiago into an emotional tail spin, after which his life goes downhill, as his fame and success begins to catch up with him, and he becomes more arrogant and selfish.

When he gets his first chance to start for Real Madrid, he messes up after a bad tackle on Valencia's Vicente Rodríguez, leading to him to get a red card and being getting sent off. Soon after, he gets into an argument with his girlfriend Roz, who leaves, frustrated, to return to the United Kingdom, and he rashly fires Glen Foy as his agent when he gets him an advertising deal with a tofu restaurant just because he hates tofu. Things get worse when he gets injured. Unable to cope with the forces around him, and without anyone to guide him, Santiago is lured into a kiss with an opportunistic sports television presenter Jordana Garcia which becomes back page news.

His young brother Enrique, meanwhile steals Santiago's Lamborghini after he has an argument with Santiago; he crashes and badly injures himself. Santiago then beats up a photographer and gets arrested, and when he calls Glen for help, he is firmly informed that he is on his own. Soon after getting released, his girlfriend finds out about Santiago's affair and dumps him, leaving him sad and depressed.

At his lowest ebb, he realizes he needs to put things right and visits his mother, who explains why she ran away when Santiago was a young boy. He tries multiple times to call his girlfriend and make up to her but she does not answer and the audience see, but unknown to Santi, that she is pregnant with his child.

Real Madrid reach the final of the UEFA Champions League and they are lined up against Arsenal. Santiago learns that Harris has to get a place in the starting line-up in the final in order to ensure an extension of his contract and a place in his national squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. He asks the coach to let Harris start instead of him in the final. Harris gets his chance, but almost squanders it by fouling Arsenal player T.J. Harper in the first half – which leads to a penalty and Real Madrid concede the first goal. The final turns into a nightmare for Real Madrid after this. The star players can hardly build any chances and Arsenal have a firm grip on the game in the first half.

Contrary to speculation and despite the bad form of Harris, Santiago is brought onto the field – but not as a substitute for Harris. In the second half the two former Newcastle teammates get the chance to link up at the front to bring Madrid back to life. However the game gets worse as Arsenal go 2-0 up. Arsenal are denied an even bigger lead when Casillas superbly saves another penalty. Following this save, Real Madrid get to counter-attack with Santiago finally creating a moment of magic with Harris, who scores to make it 2-1. In the final few minutes of the game, with Madrid needing a goal to stay in the game, Santiago gets his chance and makes it 2-2. Finally, with only seconds left, David Beckham scores from a free kick to win the Champions League for Real Madrid.

The film ends with the Real Madrid CF players celebrating a famous win and is "to be continued...".

Cast

Cameo appearances

Many past and present Real Madrid players portray themselves, as does a club president and the President of Honour, and other opponents.

Music

Notes
  1. It is unclear which version of "Ave Maria" this was, but the best-known ones are those by Bach/Gounod and by Schubert.

References
  1. Goal II: Living the Dream (2007) at IMDb 22 May 2008
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