This story seems to have followed a recipe for compelling narrative: Take a heroic figure, add a group of “endangered children, let them struggle against great odds. Fold in current social issues and moral context.
In the Hollywood version of this story, the team would triumph completely. But this is real life, of course, and so the plot is more complex—and, you could say, interesting. We get the pleasure of a writer’s strong voice, guiding us through real complexity and nuance.
Read “Refugees Find Hostility and Hope on Soccer Field,” by Warren St. John