Goal!

Herald rating: * *

This is Rocky in soccer boots, the story of a Hispanic kid raised on the streets of LA who gets a shot at playing football for Newcastle United in the English Premier League.

Time was when the Magpies picked their players from kids kicking cans around the gutters of Newcastle, but ...

Starring Kuno Becker as Santiago Munez, it's every sporting fantasy movie you've ever seen, a series of terribly predictable episodes in which our hero gets his big break, nearly muffs it, is saved by the fatherly ... oh, you know.

Product perfectly placed, it arrives in stores just as the World Cup kicks off and plans for Part II (Munez is transferred to Real Madrid, cue more cameos from David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Raul) and Part III (our young Hispanic has to decide whether he'll play for the US or Mexico in the World Cup).

In the DVD's Making Of feature, producer Matt Barrelle admits to the Rocky comparison and cameras follow Becker as he trains with the team.

The Beauty Of The Game and backgrounds on Newcastle United and Real Madrid try to put soccer's worldwide profile into focus for Americans.

On the commentary director Danny Canon and veteran British screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais admit to churning out the script in three weeks to meet the World Cup deadline: some may be surprised that it took them so long.

There's a trailer for Goal II, a Happy Mondays' music video, an Adidas commercial where Munez picks his dream team and a hotch-potch of World Cup Moments.

* DVD, video rental out now