A barefooted boy lovingly chalks a football pitch onto the windy desert sand of a Cape Verde island in the opening shot of Fernando Vendrell's gentle debut feature about an aging footballer.

Still living on the island where he grew up, Mane (Germano) becomes restless with regret over having missed a chance at football stardom in his youth. Like the young players he now coaches, Mane once dreamed of leaving the island to play for a big Portuguese club.

Resentful of the family obligations that kept him from leaving, he decides to go to Lisbon to chase the dream for his young protege, Kalu (Miranda). What he finds in the big city, however, is not all that he expects, and it recasts his island home in a sweeter light.

Vendrell captures the beauty of the island with panoramic shots, yet conveys the sense that for many of the islanders, the four walls of the club or bar are the horizon of their aspirations.

Football is ambiguously portrayed as a passionate obsession that can just as easily break relationships as cement them. You need not be interested in football to appreciate this film which centers, ultimately, on one man's positive reevaluation of his life.