Every once in a while, I go back to the movie Goal 2, a staple of my teenage years and childhood dreams. As a Mexican-American, there aren't many movies that have a protagonist, such as Santiago Muniz. A Mexican brought to America as an undocumented immigrant who dreams of making it big Football (soccer).
Even to this day in 2021, most movies depict Latin males as gangsters, even worst, cholos. Using common phrases such as "Esse" and "what up homes." We are the villains Americans see even though most of my friends were not gangsters, cholos, or "hommies." We spoke clear English and loved to play Football.
Goal brings to light whats it's like to be a Mexican who loveFootballll. It doesn't shove down your throat political correctness or the ill-treatment of immigrants. It shows Santiago, who has to work for his father's yard cutting service, working as a cook at a Chinese restaurant on the weekdays (because he can't be a waiter since he is not Chinese), realities that are often not talked about and never heard of. Not to mention that he plays in a local weekend league where he eventually gets discovered.
The scene shown below is the beginning of the second installation of the franchise and the best one. Please don't watch goal 3. It shows the powerhouse Real Madrid, a team equivalent to the New York Yankees or New England patriots, struggling in the European stage even though they have the Galacticos or Galactic ones, a term used to showcase the power this team had in the mid-2000s.
Goal 2's intro starts with the harmonic and soothing harp playing as we are taken from the heavens to see the majesty that is the beautiful gameFootballll. The classical song Ave Maria plays shows the divinity we as fans have towards this game and this palace: the Santiago Bernabeu, the stadium where Real Madrid plays. The Galacticos ultimately lose against their bitter rivals, Barcelona, think New york vs. Red Socks. The precedent is set, our team is screwed, and we need a hero to save us. Enter Santiago Muniz, the personal me and many other Latin boys saw ourselves as in our youth.
The scene brings tears to me because of all of the above. The Majestic stadium is divine and sacrilegious to us football fans. The beautiful Ave Maria playing in the background, seeing my childhood heroes, like Zidane, Beckham, Ronaldhino, Ramos, Marquez, on the big screen in a scene that is so well executed and seemingly real because it was a real soccer game back in 2005. The very real game was blended with the fictional world of "Goal" and the movie ultimately does a phenomenal job at making us the viewer and fan feel like we are living the dream with Santiago.