‘Summer of ’94’ Review: The 1994 U.S. World Cup Soccer Team Gets a Rousing Underdog Documentary Tribute
📖 Full Retelling
Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker's film, executive produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, features Team USA favorites including Cobi Jones, Alexi Lalas, Tony Meola and Eric Wynalda.
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Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text As 1994 approached, the United States was on the verge of hosting the World Cup — but national soccer officials were terrified that the home team was about to humiliate itself on a global stage. They hired an internationally successful coach to transform soccer in the United States and, after a bumpy start that prompted pundits to wonder if this country and the sport the rest of the world knew as “football” would just never mesh, a miracle happened. The result, of course, was paradigm-shifting, and there are no similarities between the position Team USA soccer was in when the 1994 World Cup began and where we now stand as World Cup 2026 approaches. Nope. None at all. Related Stories Movies 'Family Movie' Review: At Least Kevin Bacon and His Family Are Having Fun Movies 'Basic' Review: Ashley Park and Leighton Meester in a Fun, Fizzy Comedy About the Perils of Googling Your Boyfriend's Ex Summer of '94 The Bottom Line Earnest and inspiring, if somewhat bland. Venue: SXSW Film Festival (Documentary Spotlight) Directors: Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker 1 hour 35 minutes As Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker’s Summer of ’94 — a documentary that’s two-thirds focused on events prior to the summer of 1994 — wants to make clear, no matter how terrified American soccer fans are of humiliation in this summer’s World Cup, and no matter how much trepidation there was regarding the early performances under coach Mauricio Pochettino’s watch, things are better now. And the journey to reach “better” was bumpy and fun and packed with amusing, if not wholly captivating, characters. Though Summer of ’94 could use a few more filmmaking flourishes or one or two stronger personalities, it’s still a sufficiently rousing by-the-numbers underdog saga. Accompan...
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