Jamal just wants to play football, but with a sister defying Taleban curfews and parents running an illegal school, his problems escalate until the whole family must flee Afghanistan in search of refuge in Australia. Serious themes and dilemmas are presented with a large ration of humour in a narrative that mirrors the obsession for football shared by Jamal and his sister with its compulsive, headlong pace, twists, turns, shocks and triumphs, and morals derived from the beautiful game: namely, never give up!