(24 June 2006 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Goal! It's all about football! Excel Home Videos, the Home Entertainment distribution and marketing arm of Excel Productions AudioVisuals, has released the movie on football -- Goal on DVD.

The DVD is priced at Rs 599. The Buena Vista Home Entertainment product Goal is directed by Danny Cannon.The story trails Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) as he overcomes challenges to play for New Castle United and attain glory in club football and rub shoulders with the likes of David Beckham, Allan Shearer, Raul Gonzales and Zinedine Zidane (playing themselves).

Excel Home Entertainment holds exclusive licensee agreement with Hollywood studios like Twentieth Century Fox, Buena Vista International, Hit Entertainment, Britannica, Hearst Entertainment and Merchant Ivory Productions.

Says Excel Home Videos MD M N Kapasi, "The DVD is definitely a collector's item for connoisseurs of football and a true tribute to the world's favourite game"

In a statement issued, the DVD also offers loads of bonus features for soccer enthusiasts. The bonus features include the Golden Moments of Fifa World Cup, The Beauty of the Game (A documentary on the Spirit of Football), a special feature on the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany, Audio Commentary, Making of the Movie, Trailer of Goal 2 among others.

The movie is the first in the trilogy of movies dedicated to the greatest sport of the modern world. It is credited as the most realistic movie ever made on the game with real matches in real stadiums with real players, to unprecedented access to clubs like New Castle United, according to the statement.

The second part (Trailer included in DVD) follows the protagonist's journey as he joins Real Madrid to play along side football greats like Ronaldo, Beckham, Raul and others.

Meanwhile,Goal II stands on the sidelines for its European debut.