THE BECKER BUGLE

And after completing the film?

"I hate it more than ever. I think it? crap!" Becker told Sunday News on a recent visit to Auckland to promote the film.

"I actually don't like it, I find it boring," Becker says of the sport at the heart of Goal!

"That's why I wanted to play the part, I wanted the challenge." Luckily for Becker - and for others who aren't football fans - it's not necessary to like football to like the film.

In fact, much like Kiwi film The World's Fastest Indian, it's a human story of triumph and dreams.

"That's the great thing about it - you don't have to be a soccer fan to actually like the film.

"To be honest it's a very beautiful film. A feel-good movie.

"It makes you feel something. It makes you get a little bit emotional.

"It's funny, I didn't think girls were going to like it, to be honest. It was a pleasant surprise."

His character seems destined to follow his father's path in life - labouring at menial jobs to earn just enough money to support his family. Naturally gifted, his amazing talent on the soccer field was wasted in recreational league games while he could only dream of playing on the world stage.

But when a scout discovers his talent and gets him a try-out with one of England's premier soccer clubs, Newcastle Utd, Santiago must choose between his father's fate and his own destiny.

While Becker doesn't share his character's passion for football, he can relate to living up to a family's expectations.

Becker was a classical violinist before he decided to throw in music and follow his passion of being an actor.

He became a star in Mexico after landing a role on a popular soap that made him a teen idol in his home country.

But his parents were initially disappointed in his switch from classical musician to soap star.

"I have a great family. They are very supportive of me.

"But when I was acting, it was a big change from classical music to being on TV - they thought it was cheesier than being a classical musician."

But they've come round now that Becker is an international film star. Goal! is a massive hit already in Mexico and Britain, and Goal! 2 and 3 already in production.

To convincingly play a professional footballer, Becker trained for five weeks, for four or five hours a day, and also did physical training in the gym.

The actor said he's never been so fit in his life. "I was fit. I had to train so many hours, and I had this special diet - it was very tough!" The movie was filmed in Newcastle and the famous Newcastle club opened up its doors to the producers to add authenticity to the film.

Real Madrid star David Beckham even has a cameo role.

"It was like, 'Who the heck are you'?" Becker jokes. "At the end of the day, I knew who he was. He's a great guy.

"Yeah, it's kinda weird huh - a German name for a Mexican guy?" laughs up-and-coming young actor Kuno Becker down the line. "My grandfather was German, so that's why. Growing up with the name 'Kuno', it's difficult to even order a pizza in Mexico City, you know," he adds, erupting into more laughter.

But in his native Mexico, and to Spanish speaking audiences beyond, Kuno Becker is most closely associated with his performance as the handsome playboy son of a wealthy father in the drama series "Soñadoras." It is this role above all that has made him a pin-up hunk in large areas of Latin America and Spanish speaking areas of the US.

Acclaimed as one of the best young stars in a burgeoning Mexican film industry, his experience ranges from theatre, short films and movies such as "Lucia Lucia," "Once Upon a Wedding" and "The Nomad."

English speaking audiences would have seen Becker playing the villainous role of Gustavo Santos in Christopher Hampton’s harrowing 2003 drama "Imagining Argentina." A taut and powerful film, it recounted the atrocities committed by the military junta that ruled Argentina in the 1970s.

If "Imagining Argentina" explored the dark side of Becker’s persona, relinquishing his teenybopper image, the international profile that "Goal!" will give him is a step up again. Becker plays the charming and clear-eyed Santiago, a Los Angeles based Latino whose dazzling football skills take him to the north east of England, and a trial with Premiership contender Newcastle United. Throwing himself into the challenge of portraying a talented professional footballer Becker pushed himself to, and sometimes beyond, the limit.

"It’s been hard for me," he explains. "I played football in school but obviously not to this standard. When you start working with real football players and a professional team it’s a whole different story. They really train hard, they have technique, and it’s just very different. My body wasn’t used to it. But I tried very hard. Obviously I’m never going to be able to play like them, but we were just trying to get as close as we could. And there are times during that process when your body says ‘hey, what are you doing to me!’. It’s hard but we’re going to get there."

The commitment Becker has shown to the project is more than just physical, with his involvement in "Goal!" scheduled to span three films in an ambitious trilogy. Producer Matt Barrelle recently announced that the first film would deal with Santiago’s rags to riches journey from the barrios of LA to the Geordie heartlands. The second will see him shine in a move to a European club before triumphing on the biggest stage of all, at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

"I love my job," Becker nods, "and I really want to be in as many scenes as I can. Over three films I can really think about putting a character through a process, a longer process than just a single movie. It makes the whole thing more interesting and enjoyable for me."

Just what toll three films will take on the 27 year old’s body is another matter. He admits he has taken his fair share of knocks so far, pushing himself in accordance with the demands of director Danny Cannon and football co-ordinator, and former pro, Andy Ansah.

"I got this ankle injury," Becker recalls, "and the doctor said to me then: ‘I hate to tell you this but you’re never going to be a footballer!’. I was like ‘no kidding!’ At the end of the day, those guys have been playing since they were three or four years old. It’s how you do it, you live with it, and do it from the very beginning. But I love my job, and it actually gives me the opportunity to be a footballer in the film."

"`Goal!’ is a story about football, but it’s a story about emotion too," adds Becker. "It’s a story about everything, about goals, about dreams, about making it. That’s the most important thing for me, that’s what I want to see in this film."

And that in the end is what will make "Goal!" a success, striking the all-important balance between creating convincing action on the field and a compelling drama off it. Kuno Becker is certain to be even better known to cinema audiences at the end of the process than he was at the beginning, but the success that he has found to date has not distracted him to the important aspects of telling a story on screen.

"I think when you go and watch a film with a sporting theme, even if you’re not really into those sports, you can still go and watch a nice story told with emotion and strong characters. That, I think, is the key."

And that, in the end, is the goal.

SYDNEYSIDER Matt Barrelle has gone from kicking a ball on Bondi Beach to producing the biggest feature film yet about soccer.

After watching Brazil beat England in the 2002 World Cup, Barrelle and an English friend, Mike Jefferies, decided to ditch everything to make a movie about the romance of football.

"At that point, we thought, 'Where is Rocky in soccer boots?' - we have got to make this film," Barrelle said during a brief visit to Sydney yesterday.

"So we camped out in Hollywood, and annoyed people to tears for two years, trying to convince the big studios the world needed a big story about football."

The pair ended up convincing a galaxy of football stars to join the cast, including David Beckham - in his first speaking role in a feature film - Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and former England captain Alan Shearer.

The finished product is called Goal!, the first in what Barrelle describes as a "rags to riches" trilogy about a Latin American teenager, played by Mexican actor Kuno Becker, plucked from the streets to become a professional footballer in Europe.

It includes cameo appearances by AC/DC guitarist Angus Young - as a Newcastle United football fan - and the actor and part-owner of Sydney FC Anthony LaPaglia, who also had a role in casting Becker, Barrelle said.

"As part of his trial, Kuno was asked to play with Hollywood United, a team LaPaglia plays in in Los Angeles with the film's director Danny Cameron and [singer] Robbie Williams," Barrelle said. "He scored a winner past LaPaglia - and at that point he said, 'get that guy on'."

Becker tells a different version of his on-field casting. "They just said I wasn't good enough," he joked yesterday. "They kept casting new people and I think they hated me." But, after weeks of gruelling training with a coach, Becker made the grade, although he had both ankles and his nose broken during filming.

"The guys I was playing with in the film are serious professionals. I am not a football player. They were great guys, but very tough," said Becker, who gave up a promising career as a violinist to take up acting 10 years ago.

The final part of the Goal! trilogy will be shot at the World Cup in Germany this year. Unprecedented co-operation from FIFA, the sport's governing body, has allowed the filmmakers intimate access to the professional football world.

"It has just opened the doors of authenticity, using real teams, real clubs, real players and real stadiums, and once we had that you can really get an insight into that life," Barrelle said.

He has also made it a personal mission to include the Socceroos in the third film.

AUSTRALIA'S World Cup soccer team and local fans will feature in a major Hollywood film – Goal! 3.

Australian producer Matt Barrelle, who has been a soccer fan all his life, is behind the film.

"We shoot Goal! 3 at the World Cup this year and we have actually changed the script, rolling a bit of Australia in there," said Barrelle, who grew up in Bondi but now lives in Los Angeles.

"So you will see Australia on the big screen, especially the fan element."

The first film in the Goal trilogy opens nationally this month, following the story of aspiring American soccer player Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker).

Munez heads to England to try his luck there and manages to score a spot on the Newcastle United team.

"When I was a kid I did play football (soccer) at school but I was obviously nothing close to a professional football player," said lead actor Becker, who is one of Latin America's biggest young stars.

"So I really had to train a lot of hours every day to get ready for this."

Barrelle said Australia's World Cup entry would definitely help the film.

"I am so happy we got in," said Barrelle, 34.

"We didn't plan this in the beginning and thought it was going to be a hard ride.

Barrelle predicts that by the end of 2006, soccer will be more popular in Australia than rugby union and AFL, but not rugby league.

"Because of the World Cup, football will jump from being the fourth most popular sport here into second spot," he said.

"I am sure it is going to come flying through."

Barrelle added that although underdogs, Australia had a "sneaky chance" of winning the World Cup.

Goal! features Australian soccer fans Anthony LaPaglia and AC/DC's Angus Young in cameos.

The film also had the support of FIFA, helping Barrelle secure international soccer stars David Beckham, Raul Gonzalez and Zinedine Zidane.

While Goal! is yet to open in Australia, production is nearly finished on Goal! 2 and pre-production on the third instalment is well underway.

"This is a great story with the backdrop being a professional footballer," said Barrelle.

"We knew we had enough story to create a trilogy."

Hollywood has churned out countless rags-to-riches sports movies over the years, but the soccer-themed "Goal!" is one of the better ones.

This is an uplifting and heartfelt tale about a dreamer who gets his chance to realise it through hardship and determination. At the age of 10, Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) crossed the border from Mexico to the United States illegally with only one thing on his mind: becoming a soccer star.

Ten years later, Santiago is playing with his local Los Angeles club when a scout, former British football star Glen Foy (Stephen Dillane) discovers him and offers him the chance to train for Newcastle United in the English Premier League - much to the chagrin of his father (Tony Plana).

Santiago discovers that the path to success is a bumpy road as he contends with life in a foreign land, difficult team-mates, physical set-backs, the temptations of fame and new love.

Directed by Danny Cannon (executive producer of TV's "CSI"), "Goal!" tells a simple, old-fashioned story but manages to sweep viewers up in the action.

Newcomer Becker is an absolute star, and much of the success of "Goal!" can be attributed to his electric screen presence. His line delivery is natural and his unknown celebrity status makes the character more convincing than if the filmmakers had cast a bigger name.

Producers Mike Jefferies and Matt Barrelle gained the support of FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) and were allowed to use real teams, real players and real locations to make "Goal!" as authentic an experience as possible.

Cannon's slick direction is backed by an energetic soundtrack, including tracks from Zero 7, UNKLE and The Happy Mondays.

If you want an entertaining story with a heart of gold that the whole family can enjoy, this is it. "Goal!" kicks the ball out of the park.