Next Goal Wins: The Thomas Rongen Story – From MLS Cup to Taika Waititi’s Film

Embracing the sometimes harsh stylistic footsteps of his Dutch coaching predecessors, Rongen had good reason.

Credited with igniting the Total Football revolution, Michels coached the legendary 1974 Netherlands national team to a World Cup final. The star player of that team, Cruyff, continued the legacy as a coach at Barcelona, influencing techniques taught at their famed residential youth academy, La Masia. This influence shaped the skills of many top players, including Miami’s Messi and Sergio Busquets.

Without Michels, there would likely be no “Next Goal Wins” as Rongen may never have come to live in the US and connected with figures like former soccer federation president Sunil Gulati, who linked him to the American Samoa job. It all dates back to when he played for the Dutch amateur national team that toured the United States in the late ’70s. Michels wasn’t the head coach of that team, but he accompanied them nonetheless.

“We’re flying over the Rocky Mountains, and I’m sitting in the window, actually, in a two-seater, next to Rinus Michels, and I’m shaking,” Rongen said. “This is the man. And I’m not a conversationalist, but at one point he goes, ‘Thomas!’ I go, ‘Yes, coach?’ He goes ‘What do you think?’ I go, ‘Wow, it’s a beautiful country.’

“… Fast forward to January of 1979, and he calls. ‘Thomas, this is Coach Rinus Michels. You remember our conversation on the plane?’”

Making a job offer that was good enough to put the young Dutch graduate student’s plans for getting a master’s in physical education on pause, Michels offered Rongen the opportunity to be a pro soccer player for the LA Aztecs.

Reflecting on the impact Michels had, Rongen remarks, “If he doesn’t sit next to me in the plane and happens to then go coach LA, Thomas Rongen would be somewhere in the Netherlands doing something. Probably coaching.”