GOALKEEPER Nicky Salapu has swapped the pain of a 31-0 defeat for the fame of a cult movie – 23 years later.
The American Samoa player, 43, was in tears when Australia racked up a record international win in 2001.
But he cried with redemption a decade later when the “world’s worst team” finally registered a victory.
Now he’s one of the central figures portrayed in Next Goal Wins – a fictional film from Hollywood A-list director Michael Fassbender, the husband of singer Rita Ora.
Looking trim and fit, Salapu still gets stopped in the streets and asked about a loss that was unique for much more than just the scoreline.
His international team were forced into a frenzied search for players ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers when Fifa ruled that squad members must have an American passport.
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Three 15-year-olds were among the youngsters hastily called up, meaning an average age of 18 and Salapu being a wise old head at 20.
He told the BBC’S Sporting Witness podcast: “We had to find anyone in two weeks. We ended up selecting kids from high school.”
And after his side opened with three heavy defeats – 13-0 to Fifi, 8-0 vs Samoa and 5-0 to Tonga – Salapu was upset Australia went full out.
He even claimed, had he been the Socceroos’ coach, he would have told his players to score 20 times then “keep possession until the game is over”.
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Yet that miserable mauling is no longer the main reason the story of American Samoa football is now so well-known.
Dutchman Thomas Rongen became coach in 2011, sparking incredible progress that was shared to a wider audience in a 2014 documentary, Next Goal Wins, and retold in a movie of the same name last year.
The peak arrived when American Samoa followed 38 loses in a row by launching their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-1 triumph over Tonga.
Salapu said: “That was the first time I ever cried in soccer since 2001 against Australia.”
But his footballing story is not yet over – as he made the American Samoa squad for the Pacific Games last December
And son Dylan plays for their Under-17s team in midfield.
A far cry from 2001 when such a pedigree would have made him a veteran of their senior side…
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
