While there’s much intrigue and uncertainty over who exactly Fox’s lead commentator will be for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on the English-language side (John Strong seems to be the favorite although JP Dellacamera was the lead voice this past summer for the USWNT’s triumph), there’s no questions about who it will be for Telemundo on the Spanish-language one.
That man will be broadcasting legend Andres Cantor, who has signed a new contract extension with the network that will take him through the 2022 World Cup which will presumably still be in Qatar. Cantor has been with Telemundo since 2000.
Via Variety:
The World Cup wouldn’t be the same without him. NBC Deportes has set a multi-year contract extension with lead soccer sportscaster Andres Cantor, known for punctuating his play-by-play coverage with a booming cry of “goooooaaaaaaal.”
The extension with NBCUniversal’s Spanish-language sports division assures that Cantor will serve as Telemundo’s lead broadcaster for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments. Securing Cantor’s services was key as Telemundo has ponied up some $600 million to snare the U.S. Spanish-language rights to the World Cup away from rival Univision starting with the 2018 tournament.
“It’s just great that I get to do it with my Telemundo family.” Cantor told Variety. “I am very, very thankful for Telemundo to give me that trust in signing me to such a contract and to put me in the spotlight to be the main broadcaster of the next World Cups and next Olympics.”
[…]
“Andres Cantor is the indisputable voice of soccer in this country,” said Eli Velázquez, exec VP of NBC Deportes. “In addition to his amazing work delivering the emotion and passion of the game that means so much to our audience in his play by play and commentary, Andres is also an accomplished journalist.”
Having Cantor call at least the next two World Cups is a great thing for soccer fans around the globe, no matter what language you speak, because calls like this are universal:
And just in case you want to get super nostalgic, here’s Cantor on with David Letterman calling a Roberto Baggio goal from the 1994 World Cup.
Given Telemundo is in the NBC family of networks, we’ve got to get Andres Cantor on with Jimmy Fallon at some point during the 2018 World Cup, don’t we?
[Variety]
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