You know the script all too well. American soccer player with foreign roots gets a chance of a lifetime and signs with a big English club. It is the basic premise behind the movie "Goal", but it is also the story of California native Anton Peterlin.
A defensive midfielder at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo last fall, Peterlin scored a dream opportunity to train with English club Everton this spring and made the most of it, impressing Everton manager David Moyes enough to earn a contract offer he will sign this summer.
Yes, the legend of Santiago Munez is alive and well.
The story surfaced last week and spread like a legend, leading many (myself included) to wonder if it could really be true, but when Moyes spoke publicly about Everton's move to sign Peterlin, the seeming fairy tale became reality.
Peterlin, 22, wasn't known by many outside of California before emerging as the newest American Abroad. His two goals and three assists over the course of three seasons at Cal Poly-SLO weren't exactly the numbers to catch people's attention, but his time playing with the Ventura County Fusion helped impress the right people and provided him with a chance to train with Everton, the same club that had just last summer made inquiries about signing U.S. national team midfielder Michael Bradley. Peterlin impressed enough to have Everton offer him a deal, and his Danish passport meant signing wouldn't be a problem.
Now Peterlin is set to join the Toffees this summer when Everton arrives to tour the United States this summe and there is a good chance he will be taking the field when Everton plays the MLS All-Stars this summer. If he does, it will help provide the perfect ending to the first chapter of Peterlin's own version of "Goal: The Movie."
What do you think of this story? Glad to see American players finding such great opportunities overseas? Wishing MLS clubs had the resources to scout the American college and PDL soccer scene well enough to uncover diamonds in the rough like Peterlin? Starting to believe the notion that dozens and dozens more Americans would be playing in Englan if they could secure work permits?
Share your thoughts below.