Review: 'Last Goal Wins' – a challenging and funny debut about football and identity
The play 'Last Goal Wins' explores racism, belonging, and the business of sport through the stories of three footballers, offering both laughs and deep reflections.
At the Broadway Theatre in Catford, 'Last Goal Wins' launches into action immediately, with the coach collaring audience members to take penalties. Part of the Ryan Calais Cameron season, which supports early-career Black and Global Majority writers, this debut by Justice Ezi asks big questions about racism, belonging, and the shadowy side of sport, all through the lens of three men and their relationship with their Nigerian heritage.
The characters include striker Victory (Benjamin Akintuyosi), desperate for one last chance to play for the country he grew up in and change his family's life, and goalkeeper Youssef (Alexander Lobo Moreno), raised in England and more concerned with his social media following and a potential offer from Morocco. The trial is complicated by Michael (Cameron Forrest), a wealthy white Arsenal star who left Nigeria at five. Their discussions of who deserves a place revolve as much around speaking Igbo or cooking pounded yam as scoring goals.
Ezi's script is well-paced and extremely funny, from jabs at 'skinny, flat white' Michael to bleak comedy about England's racist fans. Director Kalungi Ssebandeke and movement director Gabrielle Nimo deliver a thrilling final selection match with pulse-racing sound and lighting. The play refuses neat answers, even making the morally questionable hiring decisions of assistant manager Zanza Azuka (Kossim Osseni) seem arguable. These nuances make 'Last Goal Wins' as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.
