Thomas Rongen may have been largely out of sight in the American soccer scene since leaving his post as the US Under-20 men's national team coach in 2011, but that doesn't mean he was taking it easy.
In fact, the former D.C. United and Chivas USA head man chose to undertake arguably the longest start-to-finish head coaching job in the history of world soccer.
In October 2011, Rongen became the head coach of the American Samoa national association football team; the same American Samoa team that set a world record for the largest defeat ever in an international match — 31-0 to Australia on April 11, 2001.
Needless to say, it was an uphill battle for Rongen, leading and attempting to change the culture of what was dubbed "the worst team in the world" following the historic thrashing.
With Rongen in charge, American Samoa registered its first ever victory, against Tonga in a World Cup qualifier, on November 22, 2011, more than 10 years later.
And even though the World Cup campaign ended with the expected disappointment, the of American Samoa is so riveting that it's been turned into a film. You can check out the latest trailer of Next Goal Wins at the top of this page.
Next Goal Wins is a behind-the-scenes documentary following the adventures of the American Samoan Football team with Thomas Rongen at the helm. The feature-length documentary is set for theatrical release later in the year.
