LOS ANGELES, June 9 — Gear up for the Cup and relive some of football’s greatest stories with this selection of football-based movies, from the American Samoa documentary “Next Goal Wins” through Stephen Chow’s “Shaolin Soccer” to Zinedine Zidane’s mesmeric and magisterial match-day portrait.

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006)

Zinedine Zidane, the French-born midfielder of Algerian descent, serves as subject for this 91-minute real-time profile, which tracks the athlete’s movements throughout the April 23, 2005 match between Zizou’s club Real Madrid and Spanish league opponents Villareal CF. In a premonition of his 2006 World Cup Final appearance against Italy, Zidane was dismissed from the field of play in the closing stages of the game.

The Class of ‘92 (2013)

David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, and brothers Gary and Phil Neville were Manchester United’s Golden Generation, six young players brought up from the club’s youth academy and are here followed over a seven-year period, culminating with United’s Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League-winning season in 1999. With contributions from Zidane, Eric Cantona, and British filmmaker Danny Boyle.

Next Goal Wins (2014)

Taking its name from a popular children’s football rule, “Next Goal Wins” covers the fortunes of American Samoa’s national side, which hovers at the very bottom of FIFA’s world rankings table but here is displayed as an example of verve and courage against all odds as the team seeks qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The Damned United (2009)

See Michael Sheen of “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon” in the lead role as iconic English club manager Brian Clough during his tumultuous and ultimately short-lived 44-day stint as boss of Leeds, set against the heady times of his title-winning success at Derby, with the knowledge that Clough then went on to repeat the championship feat at Nottingham Forest. Based on “The Damned Utd” by David Peace.

Shaolin Soccer (2001)

Settle down with writer, director, and martial arts movie star Stephen Chow for an award-winning, fantastical take on sport and self-defence: using kung fu tradition to infuse football with a fresh (and frankly unbelievable) style of play, Chow’s ragtag Team Shaolin enters a Hong Kong competition but soon comes face-to-face with doped-up nemesis squad Team Evil.

Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos (2006)

Brazilian footballer Pelé is this documentary’s star and its most notable missing interviewee; members of the football world’s 1970s supergroup also included Franz Beckenbauer, George Best, Johan Cruyff and Carlos Alberto, who were afforded rock star treatment as their team toured the States. But as those players gradually dispersed, the end of an era for the North American Soccer League was inevitable as obscurity beckoned once more.

— AFP Relaxnews