American Fútbol

Soccer, fútbol, football - whatever you call it - is as universal a language as food, music & laughter. It's a passport to any culture in the world. For travellers, there’s no more efficient conversation starter. At a time when conversations are increasingly rare, we’ve found it ever more useful. Beyond the entertainment it provides, and despite its flaws at the corporate level, to us, soccer’s sweet spot is as a common denominator. Something real, and something safe that literally connects the world; a lens through which you can examine any culture.

While this film becomes an exploration of other cultures through soccer, it started with a reflection on our own. Like many other American soccer fans, we’ve often wondered how a wealthy country with over 300 million people of all creeds and colors has perennially underachieved in the men’s game. There are many reasons - popularity of other sports, being the main one - but we think there’s another one that’s particularly overlooked. One literally right underneath our nose.

An estimated 58 million people of Hispanic descent live in the United States - a majority of whom carry some trace of fútbol ingrained in their DNA. Despite this, the minority group that makes up nearly 18% of our population, is grossly underrepresented in our national team system. (In fact, the men’s team at the 2014 World Cup included just three Latino players. In 2007 & 2011, the women’s rosters each had just two.)

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the same ethnicities we give a societal stiff arm through national politics, are also being barricaded out of national soccer program. Whether this is by conscious or subconscious efforts, we can assume a lack of understanding and empathy for these cultures is a contributing factor.

So why not go to them? Why not take the 2014 World Cup in Brazil - the ultimate celebration of soccer on the greater American continent - as an opportunity for four white kids to go see and experience for themselves how Latin American cultures speak this universal language.

So that’s what we did. We plotted out a trip to 8 of the 9 Latin American countries that would feature in the World Cup (the most of any previous World Cup), started a crowdfunding campaign, and a few months later, embarked on a 4-month adventure.

Our intention with this film was never to showcase ourselves on a ‘once-in-a-lifetime boys’ trip.’ Rather, our goal was to find and document real stories in each place we visited, and translate Latin America’s passion for the beautiful game for people like us back home. Because all it takes is one common thread, one conversation starter, to change the way we connect and consider people from different cultures. And if along the way we inspire a bit of wanderlust, that’s okay too.