‘This is Football’

(Above source: YouTube video)

You’d think Amazon Prime timed this Friday’s launch of a documentary series called This is Football to mesh with Thursday night’s kickoff of pro football’s pre-season schedule (Broncos vs. Falcons, NBC). Instead, This is Football turns out to be an ambitious look at the worldwide phenomenon of what we Americans call soccer.

The six-part series looks at soccer’s impact across the globe, under the following themes:

Redemption — football’s role in helping to rebuild Rwanda after that country’s genocide

Belief – the rise of women’s football

Chance – “the agony and the ecstasy of the fates that humble champions and keep every fan believing in the impossible”

Love – four stories showing how “the love of the game transcends adversity”

Pride – the underdog story of Iceland’s football Vikings

Wonder – a look at superstar Lionel Messi

For more on This is Football, visit Amazon.