This five-minute animated film stars soccer greats who seek to reclaim their great game from the hands of The Scientist, a villain who has created The Clones, a team of android-like beings who are seemingly unbeatable by virtue of eliminating all risk taking. The Clones have reduced the game to one of cold, calculated efficiency, making them kings of soccer. The price to pay is that the sport too has been reduced to being dull and predictable.

As a result, the superstar human players are out of a job, leading “normal” lives. Brazilian legend Ronaldo (O Fenómeno) decides enough is enough and goes on a mission to reignite the game with brilliant football from the re-assembled group of the world’s most brilliant players.

He rescues a dejected Zlatan from a bookstall outside a stadium, leaving copies of I AM ZLATAN behind. Cristiano Ronaldo, now relegated to life as a window mannequin, is snatched by his namesake from the SPORT-U-GAL shop window. Iniesta’s life as a farmer is over before you can say Magista. Neymar and David Luiz’s new careers as hairdressers are cut short as El Fenómeno nabs them, and Wayne Rooney’s stint as a fisherman washes up when he’s bundled into the back of a van.

Once together, O Fenómeno manages to convince the skeptical players with a stirring speech about beating The Clones. To remove any doubts, the Brazilian legend reminds them of some of their own greatest moments as they walk the stairs of his secret location.

The world’s attention turns to the showdown between The Players and The Clones to determine the future of football. Brilliance and risk taking winds up winning the sudden death match, exiling The Clones from soccer.

The “Last Game” was created by Nike, Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore., and animation studio Passion.   

Credits

Client Nike Football Agency Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Alberto Ponte, global creative director/copywriter; Ryan O’ Rourke, global creative director/art director; Dan Viens, digital director; Matt Hunnicutt, global executive producer; Erika Madison, sr. producer; Julie Gursha, production assistant; Ben Grylewicz, head of production; Jordan Schroeder, project manager; Joe Staples, Susan Hoffman, executive creative directors. Production Passion Jon Saunders, director/writer. James Russell, Kevin Cecil, Steven Hall, Lucy Guy, writers; Andrew Ruhemann, Pete Candeland, Alex Webster, Brendan Houghton, Ryan Goodwin-Smith, story development team; Daniel Emmerson, Simon Griffin, Lee Hempstock, Rob Sprackling, John Smith, additional story assistance; Pete Candeland, develoment cretive director; Andrew Ruhemann, Alex Webster, executive producers; Anna Lord, head of production; Ryan goodwin-Smith, producer; Adriana Piasek-Wanski, line producer; Anna Cunningham, Kate Goodwin, production coordinators; Becky Perryman, production assistant; Claudia hesse, Hanna Simons, VO casting directors; Mark Waring, animation director;  Andy Ansah, football choreography consultant; Jason Nicholas, head of CG; Neil Riley, VFX supervisor; Cesar Nunes, CG supervisor; Suzanne Forward, Derek Walsh, Amelie Zilliox, Mark Harper, Dave Powell, CG coordination; Carine Buncsi, additional coordination; Jon Saunders, Alex Huguet, Gillian Reid, Leeroy Vanilla, Dan Lambert, character design; Jake Slutsky, CG design development; Brendan Houghton, Yohann Auroux (clean-up), storyboards; Xavier Zahra, Richard Perry, previz lead; Mark Brown, Paul Cousins, Emiliano Nanfaro, Stephen Harrison, Daniel Adams, previz; Daniel Adams, Remi Cauquil, Anthony Martin, layout; Alex Huguet, character modeling supervisor; Mattias Bjurstrom, Tom Bryant, Dan Fine, Julia Friedl, Craig Maden, Abner Marin, Angel Navarro, Alex Stratulat, character modeling; Ian Brown, environments modeling supervisor;  Zahra Al-Naib, Florence Ciuccoli, Guillaume Fuentes, Jacob Gonzalez, Juan Carlos Gracia, Francois Mancone, Paco Rocha, Florent Rousseau, Vladimir Venkov, Sarah Zaher, environment modeling; Ellie Bond, Amanda Bone, Katreena Bowell, Claudia Carvalho, Eva De Prado, David Domingo Jimenez, Lesley Rooney, Grace Stephens, texturing; Andrew Butler, Chris Dawson, Morgan Evans, Maarten Heinstra, Maickel Pasta, Georg Schneider, rigging;  Conor Ryan, animation lead; Magali Barbe, Antoine Bourruel, Cath Brooks, Wesley Coman, Catherine Elvidge, Rhiannon Evans, Aldo Gagliardi, Alex Grigg, Annie Habermehl, Rimelle Khayat, Boris Kossmehl, Karin Mattsson, Daniel Meitin, Florian Mounie, Nora OSullivan, Garrick Rawlingson, Alvaro Martin Saez de Parayuelo, David Sigrist, Milian Topsy, Rodrigo Torres, Marie Vorhoeven, Chris Welsby, Steven White, (Darren Walsh – Magpie), animation; Jamie Franks, FX supervisor; Sam Swift-Glasman, Junaid Syed, Dan Warder, FX; Ariele Podrieder Lenzi, sr. cloth TD, Antonios Defteraios, Will Fife, Jayson King, Colin Perret, Michael Sofoluke, cloth; Chema Del Fresno, Kwai Ip (also cloth), hair; Jonny Grew, crowd; Christian Mills, Arnoud Machtou, L&R lead; Howard Bell, Yohan Cohen, Jacob Gonzalez, Patrick Krafft, Sebastian Mayer, Richard Moss, Camille Perrin, Francois Pons, Paco Rocha, lighting & rendering; Svilen Aynadzhiev, Pavan Balagam, Andre Bittencourt, David Lea, Manuel Perez, Julien Record, Valeria Romano, Johnny Still, Alex Swann, compositing; Stephane Coedel, Giles Dill, graphics; Eve Strickman, producer (3D end tag);Sam Mason, Jon Saunders, CG designers; Andy Ansah, Tyson White, choreographer; Tyler Blake, project manager; Gerri McCarthy, live producer for Passion; Marek Wesolowski, DOP/Steadicam operator; Ronaldas Buozis, SOP/Sony F55; Ralph Messer, focus puller; Josh Feder, runner/GoPro; Jonah Sugden, runner/5D operator; Nuria Perez, DIT; Lottie Hope, Passion producer; Phil Stilgoe, mocap producer; Stuart Haskayne, mocap supervisor; Joe Ells, mocap post supervisor; Iain Silvester, mocap production coordinator; Matt Parker, sr mocap technician; Ross Richards, David Bushen, mocap technicians; Mimi Dulake, mocap production assistant; Goran Dimitrijevi, mocap tracking manager; Igor Kovačević, mocap sr tracker; Jelena Mitrović, Zoran Muncan, Miloš Knežević, Nenad Milosavljević, mocap trackers; Sajjad Amjad, Julian Hodgson, pipeline TDs. 3D End Tag ILOVEDUST, original 2D design Animation Wieden+Kennedy, Portland (3D end tag) Production Painting Practice, Cesar Nunes; Dan May, production designer; Daniel Cacouault, John Park, Thomas Scholes, concept art; Rafael Martin Coronel, lead concept artist/matte painter; Graeme McDougal, 3D matte artist/lead; Antoine Birot, Nicolas Loudot, Tristan Menard, Carlos Nieto,  matte painters/concept artists; Noemie Cauvin, jr. matte painter; Justin C Hutchinson-Chatburn, Mike Shorten, Alex Fort, Xavier Ren, concept artists; Matt Hotchkiss, 3D artist; Dora Sarkozi, coordinator; Gemma Kingsley, Erica McEwan, graphic design; Rodolphe Parfait, jr. artist. Music Walker, Portland. Judson Crane, composer; Sara Matarazzo, exec producer; Abbey Hickman, music coordinator; Licensed Track Miss Alissa, Eagles of Death Metal Sound Design 750mph Sam Ashwell, sound designer/mix engineer; Sam Robinson, audio producer. Phil Boland, additional engineering. Editorial  Whitehouse Post, London/NY Paul La Calandra, editor; Joe Petruccio, assistant editor; Lisa Kenrick, exec producer; Lauren Hertzberg, exec producer (NY); Nick Crane, producer. Passion Victoria Lesiw. Anne Monnehay, Tim King, additional editing for Passion

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