Thomas Rongen.Photo illustration The Globe and Mail. Source photo: Carlos Osorio/Reuters/Reuters
Representing more than 20 soccer clubs on several continents as player and coach, Thomas Rongen’s life has been every inch a nomadic existence. His 50-year career in the game has taken him from his native Amsterdam to the defunct North American Soccer League, Major League Soccer and beyond. The former director of Toronto FC’s academy now finds himself living in South Florida, doing radio play-by-play for Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, as well as TV work for CBS and BeIN Sports.
While most of his well-travelled existence could form the basis for a movie, one chapter in particular is about to get its Hollywood premiere. In 2011, Rongen took charge of American Samoa as it attempted to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, just 10 years on from a world-record 31-0 defeat at the hands of Australia when American Samoa was the lowest-ranked team in the FIFA ranking. With Rongen at the helm, and with just three weeks of preparations, American Samoa defeated Tonga 2-1 to register just its second international win to close the door on a run of 38 consecutive defeats. Next Goal Wins, with two-time Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender playing Rongen, opens next Friday.
What’s more exciting, getting a front-row seat for Messi every day or having Michael Fassbender play part of your life story?
Oh, I’ve got to with Messi. I was very fortunate that I coached the United States under-20 team in four World Cups. In 2005 we were in the Netherlands and we’re playing Argentina and Messi actually makes his first [World Cup] appearance for the Argentinian under-20 team and comes in in the second half. We beat Argentina 1-0 so I saw Messi as a 17-year-old. I’ve been to Barcelona through my connection [to former teammate Johan] Cruyff, [former coach Rinus] Michels and [fellow Dutchman] Frank Rijkaard, who gave Messi his first start for Barcelona as well. To call his games live and see him up close to being able to converse with him once in a while. … Fassbender is great, you know, he’s Magneto. So how can I go against Magneto, but it would be Messi first and Fassbender a close second.
Who are your favourite authors?
One is a bit of a bible to me. It’s a brilliant book written by somebody called James Montague, who wrote Thirty-One Nil, which basically covers the loss against Australia. So that’s one. I really enjoy Malcolm Gladwell. Malcolm obviously wrote Outliers and I’ve used over time a lot of that in my coaching philosophy, the way I look at certain things. David Winner, who wrote … Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football, and I’ve read some of his other stuff as well. Now I was exposed to Karl Marx and others throughout my upbringing in the Netherlands, obviously. There’s one other author which I’ve taken to over time, Joe McGinniss, who has written The Selling of the President, The Dream Team, Blind Faith, The Last Brother, but he also wrote a book called The Miracle of Castel di Sangro. Actually, I’m somewhere in that book. I engaged with him about [former Italian goalkeeper] Walter Zenga, so those are guys close to my heart.
What is your greatest achievement?
My greatest achievement by far – and I’ve coached in the senior World Cup with the USA, I’ve been the coach of the U.S. Olympic team, I’ve been to three under-20 World Cups, I’ve won a title in MLS with DC United, I was a water carrier for Johan Cruyff, Gerd Muller, the guys I played with in the NASL – but at the end of the day, my greatest achievement probably was American Samoa. Both professionally, but more so personally. If American Samoa would not have happened I’m not so sure if I’d still be alive. The spiritual journey that I as an atheist went through there by mourning for the first time the loss of my daughter [his stepdaughter Nicole died in a 2004 car accident in Virginia] due to these wonderful people on the island the way they approach life to me, bar none, I’ll give everything back and keep that one. Not because we finally won a game after two decades and scored a goal but more so it made Thomas Rongen a much better person and a healthier version as well, which he wasn’t for many, many years.
What is your greatest fear?
Fear of failure. I was driven as a player because a lot of times people said to me, including Johan Cruyff, ‘Thomas, you’re not a very good player, so get the ball, play it to me and stand still.’ Or ‘Thomas, if you’re not the fittest guy in the team, you will never start,’ so I doubted myself. So fear of failure drove me to somehow excel and similar to a coach, as well, in particular after I got fired for the first time in my life, and all of a sudden I understood that wins and losses determine not only my fate, but the fate of my family and moving again and things like that. So I’m afraid of failure. And thank god I haven’t failed many times.
You’re a well-travelled man. Where would you most like to live if you had a choice?
Oh my god. Okay, I’ll give you my top three. Amsterdam, Sydney and Toronto.
Amsterdam because it’s home?
No, Amsterdam because it’s Amsterdam. People that have gone to Amsterdam, they’ll go to this great city for all the right and wrong reasons. You want to get rid of all your vices in one week? Go to Amsterdam. You want to see history, architecture? You want to see van Gogh, Rembrandt? You go to Amsterdam. You want to go get laid legally? You go to Amsterdam. You want to hang out at what’s called a brown café and drink Heineken straight from the Heineken factory? You go to Amsterdam.
And Sydney and Toronto?
Sydney’s just clean. You don’t need a car, you can travel anywhere by water, which was like, crazy, you know? I just love the Australians just like the Canadians, because they’re similar to the Dutch. We’re liberal. We’re against all the things that are going on in the world right now. And I actually said to my friend the other day, he said if Trump becomes president again, what do you do? I said I’m going to move to Canada or back to the Netherlands or Sydney. Just wholesome places, so eclectic, like Little Italy, and since Toronto is so compact you can take a walk everywhere. I love it. I feel very, very at home in all three cities.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
As you know, the Netherlands is below sea level, but there’s a story that there’s a little boy that stuck his finger in the dike to prevent flooding. I don’t mind sticking my finger in a dike anywhere I go, because that’s ballsy, it’s daring and it’s also having a keen awareness of what’s important in the moment. And I do a good job of doing that in the moment, so to speak.
What is your most treasured possession?
My most treasured possession – because I’ve sorted out my psyche – is my daughter’s VCU cap. [Next Goal Wins director] Taika Waititi reiterated to me that Michael Fassbender also wore it in the movie and now the memories are smiles from me, which they weren’t for the longest time. I have a Pele autographed jersey. I have a Cruyff autographed Jersey, I partied with Diego Maradona. I have a Prince jacket from 1980 that he wore on stage in [famed Minneapolis nightclub] First Avenue, so people tell me that that should be your No. 1, but no, it’s my daughter’s Virginia Commonwealth University hat.