Documentaries are fun, dramatic, thrilling, and sometimes exaugurated. Well, football too, is all of that, and that is why a football documentary is so fun to watch!

All the elements of football that make it exciting like the players, fans, managers, defeats, and losses are perfectly captured in a documentary.

But the biggest asset of a football documentary is to provide the necessary context and the sub-context that just heightens the viewing experience.

Context is everything

Now we all love stories, when we watch a football match more than the game it’s the context of the game that gets you hyped up. It is the human stories, the rivalries, and the stage of the match that makes it such an interesting watch.

PSG vs. Barcelona would be the most anticipated game, made even more so by the context of Messi playing against Barcelona.

It’s Liverpool vs Man City at Anfield in the Premier League it’s a very big game but made even bigger by the context that the Premier League may very well be decided by this one game.

All these narratives and human stories make football what it is. People don’t simply fall in love with football because 22 men are kicking a ball around, they fall in love because of these different narratives that are in play.

Now, all of these stories might not be known by everyone. It is here where a football documentary or movies shine.

It is the job of a football documentary to take all of these football narratives, add human elements to them, and then channelize, package, and present them, In a manner that would be interesting, thrilling, and entertaining.

Just like football, but packaged with all of the important narratives, so the viewer can comprehend football even if they haven’t seen a single game.

Sometimes, football goes even deeper than that.

The Two Escobars

Now, football is the most popular game in the world. There is so much money and fame in football that it is a powerful medium to reach out. So naturally, it touches sensitive topics like racism, human rights, and sometimes even politics is involved.

Football has such power and potential, that documentaries can capitalize on it.

Take the infamous football documentary the ‘The Two Escobars’ for example.

The story takes us to Columbia of the early 90s.

Two Escobars (unrelated); one entangled, fascinating story.

Colombian defender Andres Escobar, whose own goal contributed to Los Cafeteros’ early exit from USA 94, was shot dead seven months after Pablo’s own gruesome end at the hands of police, but his death was a direct result of his namesake’s legacy.

Pablo Escobar enjoyed football and saw it as a means to expand his vast drug enterprise – if nothing else, dumping money into Atletico Nacional was an excellent way to launder it.

But Nacional defender Andres was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time; his terrible conduct against the USA enraged influential guys with a lot riding on the outcome, and he was gunned murdered in a nightclub parking lot.

The Two Escobars expertly weaves the two stories together, tracing the volatile relationship between Colombia’s cartels – and those caught up in the middle – and the beautiful game they all adored.

Look how much context a documentary can provide for a simple own goal.

And that is the biggest asset of a documentary.