Becoming Champions

Becoming Champions, an engaging Netflix documentary series from 2018, provides a fascinating exploration into the exhilarating world of international soccer. This series hinges on the passionate love for soccer, a sport that cuts across borders and barriers, engendering strong feelings of communal identity, national pride, and unwavering perseverance.

Becoming Champions takes viewers on an immersive journey through the rich, vibrant histories of fabled national teams that have attained the pinnacle of global soccer glory. Each episode uniquely focuses on a particular team that has triumphed in the highly coveted FIFA World Cup— the zenith of international soccer competition.

The countries under the spotlight include Brazil, Germany, Uruguay, Argentina, Italy and France. These countries possess intensely rich soccer legacies both on and off the field. Their encounter with World cup triumph and the influence this has had on their respective national identities forms the crux of the series.

The creators of Becoming Champions meticulously weave together various narrative strands packed with stunning archival footage, memorable games, and revealing interviews with legendary players, coaches, and journalists. This amalgamation of cinematic storytelling tools helps to frame the elation of a win, the despair of a loss, and the anticipation of the unknown that comprises the beautiful fabric of the "beautiful game."

Moreover, the series delves into the socio-political panorama that surrounds the sport, offering a profound understanding of soccer's impact on national and international episodes of socio-political change. As will be evident while watching this documentary series, soccer is more than just a game; it's a vibrant mosaic of camaraderie, culture, dreams, disappointments, and above all, perseverance and resilience forged in the crucible of competition.

The show doesn't just recount the teams' historic victories but also the trials, tribulations, and difficult paths they undertook to reach the top. The cinematic storytelling encapsulates their ongoing journeys as inseparable parts of their national identities. It's intriguing to see how their struggles mirror the ups and downs experienced by their home countries, and how their successes often serve as a beacon of hope during challenging times.

Fans and non-fans of soccer alike will be equally enthralled by the stunning visuals of match highlights, the emotion-laden personal anecdotes of victory and defeat shared by the former world cup champions, and an overview of the cultural dynamics, historical context, and heightened tensions that prevailed during those crucial moments when everything was at stake.

Becoming Champions explores the ebb and flow of soccer as it intertwines with national identities. Their devoted fans' unwavering support for the national team during the World Cup mirrors the patriotic sentiment, unity and moral values ​​that their nations represent. This solidifies the concept of the sport as a collective emotion that profoundly affects the ethos of a nation.

The series also manages to humanize the globally admired soccer legends, illustrating their personal life, their relentless preparation for tournaments, their self-doubt, resilience, and celebration. It offers an intimate peek behind the performance on the field, providing inspiration not just to aspiring athletes, but to anyone seeking to overcome adversity.

Becoming Champions is a nostalgic walk down memory lane for older soccer fans who lived through some of these unforgettable soccer moments. For newer fans, it's an induction into what it means to play for the highest stakes in international sports. For non-soccer fans, it is an exploration into the raw passion and ethos that makes soccer more than merely a game, but a microcosm of society and a catalyst for national pride.

The love for soccer is far-reaching and universal, and Becoming Champions makes this abundantly clear. It is a celebration of the desire to win and catapults the viewers into an exploration of the beautiful game, exploring how an entire nation holds its breath, reveling in collective joy or mourning a shared disappointment, as their teams grapple for supremacy on the world's most significant sports stage.

Watching this series is akin to taking a global tour – a comprehensive, deeply personal, emotionally saturated, and enthralling tour – of the world's most loved sport. It highlights the hardships endured, the lessons learned, the battles fought, and the ultimate glory earned by countries that have etched their names in the annals of soccer history. Life, after all, is like a soccer match, and as Becoming Champions illustrates, both are about taking your shots when you can and fighting till the final whistle.