Once in a Lifetime


Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "Guardian"


Andrew Pulver
Friday May 19, 2006
The Guardian

As the World Cup nears, the tide of football-related film and TV is reaching near-cataclysmic proportions. Here's an interesting perspective on the sport's drive to move outside its European and Latin-American strongholds in the 1970s. Most people remember the New York Cosmos as a retirement home for past-their-prime legends looking to pick up an easy pay cheque. But Paul Crowder and John Dower's film shows there was a lot more to it than that.

The Cosmos were a struggling regional franchise in the US's semi-pro league before being bankrolled by "soccer" nut Steve Ross, who also happened to be chairman of Warner Communications. Hence the immediate emphasis on hiring star talent: the company's lawyer explains how he was hauled off contract negotiations with Dustin Hoffman to make a deal with Pele, the first international to sign. Pele ended up playing in a team of part-timers to an initially hostile reception (he was heckled throughout his first press conference by a surly and resentful baseball writer), but with the groovy spirit of Studio 54 in the air, the US public quickly came round to the Cosmos's jetset glamour.
Pele, with his own documentary to promote, has declined to appear here, but there's a significant contribution from the bad guy in the piece: Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia, a dead ringer for James Gandolfini. Chinaglia was a prolific goal-scorer but classic dressing-room troublemaker, who ended up as club president and piloted the Cosmos to oblivion. The plug was pulled on the club - and the league - when the US TV networks pulled out after the ratings dropped. The football industry had to wait until the 1994 World Cup for another attempt at fulfilling its eternal dream - cracking the huge US market.

bankroll- finansować
cataclysmic- katastrofalny
contribution- wkład, udział, pomoc
crack- rozbić, złamać
decline- odmówić, nie przyjąć
emphasis- nacisk
end up- skończyć, wylądować
eternal- wieczny
franchise- koncesja; znak firmowy
glamour- czar, urok, powab
groovy- świetny, super
haul off- odholować
heckle- przeszkadzać, przerywać pytaniami
hence- dlatego, stąd
hostile- wrogi
initially- początkowo
jetset- modne towarzystwo
oblivion- zapomnienie, niepamięć
prolific- płodny
reception- przyjęcie
resentful- urażony, pełen urazy
retirement- emerytura
stronghold- bastion, forteca
surly- opryskliwy
tide- przypływ, fala


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