My Football Summer

My Football Summer is a 2006 documentary film directed by Yang Li-chou and Chang Rong-ji about a group of young football players in pursuit of a dream.

Origin

In the beginning of 2006, Yang was commissioned by Taiwan to make a 5-minute long commercial for the incoming 2006 FIFA World Cup. During the filming, Yang felt the story was too touching to be fulfilled by only four short videos, and therefore he decided to extend the project into a feature-length documentary and asked his student and cameraman, Chang, to be the co-director.

Plot

In Hualien, players of Mei Lun Junior High School football team are preparing for the upcoming , which is one of the major youth football competitions in Taiwan. It is the last, and the most important, game in their three years of junior-high-school life. They are eager to win, not only because they are the defending champion, but also they want to devote the title to their beloved coach, Wu Hsiao-yin, as his wedding gift.

Things go well in the beginning. They beat every team they encounter and eventually reach the final, in which they meet their major contender, A Lien Junior High School of Kaohsiung County. They make 2-2 at the full time whistle, and, sadly, lose the game in the penalty shootout.

The life keeps going on. After graduation, some players enter National Hualien Senior High School, whereas the others enter Hualien Vocational High School of Agriculture. They meet each other again in a friendly match between the two school teams, but they are now competitors.

Multimedia

Trailers:
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Nike commercials:
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Honors

* 2006 for Best Documentary

Follow-up

* In November 2006, gained victory over , which consisted of many players from A Lien Junior High School, in the final of men's under-17 group of .