A group of underdogs form an amateur football team to play in a local league. The prize for the winners: a trip to the 2002 World Cup Finals. The team include a common man's hero who raises his two children single-handedly after his wife passes away, an ex-con with major anger management problems, a lounge singer struggling against his deadly nemesis - the karaoke machine, and a tender but tough tomboy. The story is built around the team struggle against the odds from no-hopers to title contenders. Through the game of football, the team learns not just sportsmanship, but life lessons that help them to mature as individuals, and ultimately, help each other to become better human beings.

American journalist Nick Orton is caught up in the world of Chinese gods and monsters while on a search for the long lost manuscript to 'Hsi Yu Chi' (The Journey to the West) by Wu Ch'eng En. He is accompanied on his journey by a humanoid ape with incredible strength and magical powers, a humanoid pig-man, and his brother-in-arms, an ex-cannibal. Based on one of the greatest stories in Chinese history.