The film was a box office success and achieved a large cult status in Italy, mainly thanks to the many cameo appearances by soccer players, coaches and journalists.

Oronzo Canà, a down-on-his-luck manager with a far from stellar résumé, is hired as the coach of a small football team in northern Italy, called "Lombard" ("Longobarda"), which have just secured a spot in the prestigious Serie A.

Oronzo is still optimistic about his chances, but it soon turns out the club's owner isn't willing to invest money to strengthen the team, as his plan is to get relegated to Serie B right away and he felt Canà was the ideal fall guy.

After having been promised some well-known Brazilian stars, Oronzo has to settle for Aristoteles, a young unknown they found playing on a dusty pitch for a minor team, and he takes him to Italy.

Late in the game, however, encouraged by his daughter (whose love has helped Aristoteles to win saudade and to establish himself as a lethal forward), Oronzo takes off one of the corrupt players for his striker.