The former MLS coach at the center of Taika Waititi's 'Next Goal Wins'

SALT LAKE CITY — Have you ever been asked which actor you'd want to play you in a movie about your life?

Well, Thomas Rongen had that dream scenario come to fruition when director Taika Waititi called him in 2017 to tell him Michael Fassbender would play him in a movie about "his most rewarding journey."

"Pretty insane," Rongen told KSL.com about the call from Waititi. "It's Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated supervillain Magneto. It's Michael Fassbender, you know, how's your day going? Yeah, that was pretty cool."

The Dutch-American citizen and first-ever MLS Coach of the Year in 1996 has now seen his most famous moment — coaching the "worst soccer team in the world" in American Samoa — played out twice on screen, once in the 2014 documentary "Next Goals Wins" and the comedy-drama of the same name coming to theaters on Nov. 17.

Rongen spent 15 years between coaching jobs in MLS during its early years and the United States U-20 national team before moving to American Samoa in 2011 to help its national team in qualification for the 2014 World Cup.

"The president of U.S. soccer asked me, 'Do you want to help a territory of the United States — American Samoa — for about three weeks?' I looked at my wife and I said, 'Where's American Samoa?' (She said), 'It's next to Fiji.' So I said, 'Yeah,'" Rongen said. "I didn't know they were the worst team in the world, but it's just such a remarkable culture, and I embrace every culture."

Beyond just the play on the field, Rongen also faced the mental and emotional challenge of helping the country recover from the worst loss in international football history in 2001, a 31-0 loss to Australia.

American Samoa wasn't the only one trying to get over its past, however, as Rongen was still dealing with the death of his daughter in a car crash years earlier. Though he says he's an atheist, Rongen "embraced" the religious culture in American Samoa and learned a lot about "spiritually" and life in general.

"That was the first time I sobbed — during my first time in church with them — uncontrollably," Rongen said. "Now, I smile about my daughter when I think about her and to me, the personal journey, the professional journey, was my most rewarding journey, both on and off the field."

The team did not qualify for the World Cup, but it did register just its second-ever victory in November 2011 against regional rival Tonga.

American Samoa rose to 173rd in the FIFA World Rankings during that time, and Rongen said soccer is now the third-most popular sport in the unincorporated territory of the United States, behind rugby and American football.

"It was easy for me to embrace their culture," Rongen said. "It's steeped in the indigenous history of that island that went through a lot of hardship, and it's just beautiful."

So what is the lasting lesson that Rongen said he learned from his short but impactful journey in American Samoa? Emotional intelligence — something he tried to acquire for years, but it required moving to the middle of the Pacific to really learn it.

"I reached the point where I said to my wife on the day of our first qualifying game against Tonga, 'They believe they can win,' because I was able to reach out to all the players individually but also collectively, as a group," Rongen said. "I knew their demons, so to speak, and I was able to tap into those things and turn their mentality around. If I would have had that during my coaching or playing career, prior to going to American Samoa, I probably would have been more successful."

Rongen now works as a radio analyst for MLS side Inter Miami and has seen the new "Next Goal Wins" film twice, calling it "'Ted Lasso' meets 'Cool Runnings' by way of 'The Mighty Ducks,'" with Waititi's "distinctive" brand of humor going back to his "Polynesian roots" as an indigenous New Zealander.

Waititi initially planned to have Rongen visit the film's set in Hawaii to help Fassbender with some soccer-related skills, but called before the trip to say the actor was "focused" on the background research he had already conducted and didn't want to be "influenced any other way" by a visit from Rongen.

"He plays a very good-looking, younger Thomas Rongen," Rongen said of Fassbender's performance. "It's sort of the first time he ventured out a little bit in comedy, and he does Thomas Rongen with a twinkle in his eyes."

"Next Goal Wins" premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and will be released in theaters on Nov. 17 by Searchlight Pictures.

Related topics