Los Angeles, Jul 30 (IANS): Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey has been signed for "Dallas Sting", which tells the fact-based story of how a group of Dallas high school girls headed to China in 1984 as the ultimate underdogs and beat some of the best women's teams from China, Australia and Italy, reports 'Deadline'.

Kari Skogland is to direct the film developed by Skydance and Berlanti Schechter Productions. Apple, which has an overall deal with Skydance, has first bite at the film and a deal is expected to happen before production begins this fall in New Orleans.

Skydance's David Ellison, Dana Goldberg ,and Don Granger are producing with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Robbie Rogers. Michael McGrath is executive producer. Those producers won a movie auction to acquire an unpublished article by Flinder Boyd.

In 1984, US President Ronald Reagan made a concerted effort to open relations with China. China, in turn, invited America to send its team to the first world championship they were holding for women's soccer. There was only one problem - there was no US Women's Soccer Team.

A nationwide search led officials to a 19-and-under league of Dallas high school girls who called themselves "The Sting", after the recent Robert Redford-Paul Newman hit movie.

Led by Bill Kinder -- who had no prior experience coaching soccer before he formed the team -- the story of how this passionate group of young women got to China was miraculous.

And what they did against the world's top women's teams from China, Australia and Italy - consisting of grown women who played together for years - was nothing short of a miracle.

In order to form the team nearly 40 years ago, Kinder had to get a note from a gynaecologist asserting that playing soccer would not harm a woman's reproductive organs. They then overcame bureaucracy just to be able to make the trip, and rose to the occasion despite being underdogs against dominant international teams.

All this led by a coach who so believed in The Sting that he charged $85,000 on his credit cards for non-refundable tickets to ensure the team got to China, where many expected they would lose badly.

Matthew will play Kinder, the coach who led the rag-tag group of Texas teens toward a Rocky-esque destiny, in the drama scripted by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch. Long before the US Women's national team achieved Olympic and World Cup dominance, came the Dallas Sting.