Echoing the off-pitch sagaof real-life England captain David Beckham, the second instalment of footballtrilogy Goal! will tell the story ofa star player's fall from grace against the backdrop of Spain's Real Madridclub.

While the first film willdetail the footballer's rags-to-riches rise at English club Newcastle United,producer and co-writer Mike Jefferies said the second will chart his "fall fromgrace as he is exposed to the temptations that today's professional footballersare confronted with." The production has already signed a deal with RealMadrid, Beckham's club, for marketing and access for filming.

Jefferies and director DannyCannon, whose credits include Judge Dreddand TV series CSI: Crime SceneInvestigation, are aiming for a starrier feel than the version that MichaelWinterbottom started shooting before he parted ways with the production citingcreative differences. Jefferies aims to announce the involvement of leading USactors in the coming weeks, beefing up the previously assembled cast of DiegoLuna and local actors such as Stuart Townsend and James Nesbitt, plusfootballers Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer.

Cannon is to start shootingthe first instalment in November, and may come aboard for the second, althoughno deal is done. Shooting at least on some sequences on the second film islikely to start straight on the back of the first.

In a conclusion Englandsupporters will be hoping has as much bearing on real life as the second film,the third in the trilogy will cover the footballers return to glory at theWorld Cup in Germany in 2006.

Jefferies said that thefootball sequences will be "very dramatic, from the point of view of theplayer," citing the games in Oliver Stone's film about American football, Any Given Sunday. He added that footballfilms had previously not had a big enough budget to make the action grippingenough. The Milkshake Films and Icon Entertainment production has a budget ofaround $100m for the trilogy.

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