IT WOULD be the perfect Kiwi summer blockbuster flick.
The opening scene of the sun rising above a misty Point Chevalier finds an athletic young man, let's say former Shortie Street favourite Martin Henderson, out puffing on a morning jog.
As he stops for a breather beside his old schoolground, his mind flashes back to his bottle blond-haired youth, kicking the ball through the soccer posts on a frosty Saturday while a rugged-up mum and dad cheer on.
Moments later, the mirage fades as the cellphone goes off in Henderson's pocket, and he breathlessly answers to find his gruff but well-meaning Auckland FC manager (I'm casting Jurassic Park star Sam Neill here) telling him, "get packed, we're confirmed for Morocco".
Ever the Kiwi lad, Henderson's character grins, "sweet as, boss. Umm, where's Morocco again?"
Next scene would find the veteran Auckland player, let's choose Jethro West himself, Antony Starr, flat out in his Grey Lynn kitchen trying to get his three screaming kids all done with breakfast and sorted for school while he throws on his fluro work vest and shoves a bit of toast in his mouth.
Starr is only halfway through yelling to the unseen missus in the laundry that, yes dear, he'll post the flaming power bill on his lunch break, when the landline goes off. A bemused Neill is on the other end, asking, "not interrupting anything, am I mate?"
Before they know it, the striker Henderson, the goalie Starr, those two squabbling centre backs (Conchords' Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie) and the rest of their rag-tag group of Kiwi characters are flying to the bright lights and find themselves as classic "fish out of water" among the ESPN cameras, flirty Spanish tourists and the spoiled San Lorenzo millionaire players.
And maybe, given it is only "based" on a true story, Hollywood could rewrite the ending just slightly and have Auckland City FC midfielder Tim Payne's extra-time strike curve inside the post to tie up the pulsating Fifa Club World Cup semifinal and send it to a penalty shoot-out, where the upsets of all upsets is secured.
Auckland FC - a team consisting of labourers, a zoology student/model, a truck driver and a cleaner - have done beyond brilliantly in a hemisphere-unbalanced tournament in which the Oceania representative is expected to make up the numbers before the serious business happens in the final week.
They played and won two tough matches to reach the semifinals against the South American champions, who were finally called on to lace up for the first time - yes, straight into a playoff with no qualifier required.
Talk about changing the script.
How the millions of viewers watching live or on tape delay would have marvelled as the unknown Angel Berlanga equalised in the second half, or held their collective breath as Argentine import Emiliano Tade slipped through to be one-on-one with the San Lorenzo goalkeeper, but could not connect.
The biggest talking point now will be how the rag-tag group carefully spend their Cinderella money.
The disappointment of missing out on a dream final match with the greatest club in the world in Real Madrid is tempered by the fact Ramon Tribulietx's side have already won $2.57 million, with the possibility of nearly $700,000 more to come if they can lift one more time against Mexico's Cruz Azul tomorrow morning.
As is the Kiwi way, half of that money will be shared among their fellow ASB Premiership franchises back home, with the club keeping the rest and hopefully handing over a well-earned share to their players, who had to use annual leave to take part.
Just as the players are regular working stiffs, so are their administrators and here's hoping everyone keeps a level head as nearly a cool $1 million rains into their laps. It's a bit more than this year's bake sale collection.
Formed in 2004, Auckland FC face a tremendous cost to be competitive with the expensive travel and debts they incur - especially given competitiveness is the last thing the football world expects - but chairman Ivan Vuksich seems to have realistic expectations.
Key to this is building a new training facility at the club and, just maybe, that would make a good location for this feel-good Movie of the Week to be filmed - showing Henderson, Starr and the local boys gearing up for a shot at the impossible.