WEBVTT - ANDRÉS CANTOR: BEHIND THE GOOOOOOOAL! 0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:06.840 Behind his passion, there is tireless preparation. Andreas Kentor has 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:10.440 spent a lifetime practicing and perfecting the art of play 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:14.239 by play in soccer. His instincts and feel for the 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:18.200 game create the famous flow to describe action with the 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:22.520 perfect words, all leading up to the one word shouted 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:26.479 loud and long that has made Andre's a legend in 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:32.280 two languages. Go the imitation is flattery, but I'm not 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:35.879 even gonna try. Andres is the lead match caller at 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.800 Telemundo and cable network UNI Verso. After starting at Union, 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:42.880 he also works for NBC and on the radio network 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:46.760 that he owns, Football de Primeira. I've been a huge 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:50.200 soccer fan since the eighties, so this was a real 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.880 treat to hear a great storyteller talk about his early years, 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.760 his path to stardom, his favorite calls, and swap some 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:01.760 ideas about what makes play by play special. Here's the 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:07.560 great Andre's cantor and what's behind is often imitated, never matched. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:12.520 Calls undress cancer, You're a legend. You should be resting 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:15.280 your voice, but instead you're talking to us, and I'm 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:18.840 grateful for that. Looking forward to this. Thank you, Chris 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:21.240 It's a pleasure to be on your podcast. Who You 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:25.280 Got You Got Me? My voice is very strong debate, 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:27.920 so we can go out of it perfect perfect. I'll 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:30.480 try to match your strength of voice. We could go 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:32.680 a lot of places, and we will in this conversation. 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:34.399 But I want to begin on a cold night in 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.520 the capital of South Africa, in Pretoria in two thousand 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.600 and ten. What is going to be a near disastrous 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:42.880 evening for US soccer. All they need is a victory 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.200 over Algeria to go through. If they don't get the victory, 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.240 they are eliminated in the group stage. You're calling the 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:52.200 game on radio, which requires an intensity that's unlike television 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:55.880 or anything else. Probably and Landed Dottaman scores in the 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.880 dying minutes, and it's a goal that every single US 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:03.040 Soccer fan will from member forever and for you, it 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:04.720 ranks right up there as well, doesn't it. This is 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:07.960 the intensity of the entire game leading up to Donovan's goal. 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.400 Most definitely it is one of my top three goals 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:17.359 of of my broadcasting career. It was a long night. 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:22.240 We got there very very early, when there was still 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:26.519 sunlight in the state in the city. Uh, he got 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:30.480 very very cold as the game progressed, and I had 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:35.359 as my color commentators on one side former US Soccer 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.680 international and on the other side Bot I mean Lutinovich, 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:43.919 his coach in the World Cup. So this was an 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:49.720 all American if you will, broadcast, And obviously we did 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.680 not anticipate that this could happen, that I could go 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:57.720 to the very last minute. I, as you clearly said, 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:01.160 I go at a different pace when I broadcast, do 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.400 and do play by play on radio than I do 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.640 want TV because I have to be that much more 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:10.359 descriptive of the action to my audience. And I put 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:15.320 a little bit more energy into it, and I was 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:21.000 really gassed out. I had no energy left in the 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:24.919 tank when that counterattack after the Algeria corner kick came, 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:28.560 which happened to be very close for them to score 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:32.440 and and win the game. And as the play progresses, 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:36.240 I'm just giving it all out because I knew that 0:03:36.400 --> 0:04:26.279 was the last player of the game. Lucky here, cowful 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:38.040 pul the I can from you, they go to what 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:44.400 I can sell yourself. Can I keep it? I don't know. 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:49.640 It's one of the things that you know very well broadcasters, 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:54.960 unless you have catchphrases or or certain things that you 0:04:55.080 --> 0:05:01.839 can have prepared before your broadcast. This is all spontaneous 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:06.839 and Landon scored the goal, and it was just not 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.880 only was it a phenomenal goal itself, but what it meant, 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:13.719 like you said, for your soccer to go through to 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.160 the next round. So I gave it my best and 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:21.839 my all, and incredibly enough, um, you know, this was 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:25.800 on radio and it's still recognized as one of the 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:30.520 best cause of my thirty plus year career. And you 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:33.359 almost passed out effort. You say after about the third 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:35.680 time that you did the extended gold call, there was 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:42.480 no more air in the UM. I really have that 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:47.920 memory of It doesn't happen very often because obviously you're 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:51.599 in control of of your emotion, or you try to 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:55.200 be in control of your emotions when you mix emotions 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:57.839 and and soccer player. I played my gave the way 0:05:57.880 --> 0:05:59.559 I feel for the game and the way I feel 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:03.640 for the t as I quote unquote root for even 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:07.159 though I'm not supposed to root for anybody, I will. 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.360 I always say that I would be a hypocrite if 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:12.520 I don't want the US. If I say that I 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:14.719 don't want the US to do well and Ardina to 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:18.400 the World of the World Cups. So it meant so much. 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:24.560 I have the memory of just like, oh, you know, 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:26.680 I was like, I don't know if I was gone 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:31.400 for two seconds or not, in between breaths um, but 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:36.560 it was definitely it was the most. It was the 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:40.440 goal that exhausted me the most in my career, for sure. 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:45.160 I was sitting with Alexei laalas are our mutual colleague. 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.880 You're with him at NBC. We were prepared to deliver 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:52.000 a very grim post match report. It would have been 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:54.800 disasters for the US not to go through to the 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:58.160 knockout round. It was going to happen. We were preparing 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:02.640 the last rites for the team, probably the coach and 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:05.800 that group of players together and then everything changes in 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:09.440 a few seconds and alexeis in tears. As a former 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:13.640 US captain, he gets very emotionally involved. I love that 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.680 about him. I was choked up. It was all we 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:19.640 could do to deliver the postgame report to a very 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.240 excited group of American soccer fans who felt like they 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:26.040 had escaped death literally, and it was that was that grim, 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.040 and then it was that euphoric, and I know you 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:31.240 felt that way afterwards to it as cold as is, 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:33.840 as exhausted as you are. That's why we do what 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:35.560 we do, is to be able to capture that kind 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:39.520 of a moment exactly. I mean, those are the the 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:44.720 one moment in sports history that all of us, starting 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:48.560 with the players, athletes, coaches, et cetera, will remember. And 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:51.480 I always say, Chris, that we are blessed or in 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.960 my case, scient blessed to be part of history. I 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:58.360 have the best seat in the house, um, and all 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:01.800 I have to sit there and translate my emotions into 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:06.880 my audience. And obviously I had a thirty minute bostgame 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:10.480 show on radio after the match, and when I saw 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:15.560 that the players were out, um, towards that far corner 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:21.800 opposite my booth, singing and celebrating with the American fans 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.760 UH with you know, after all, you know, we were 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.960 in South Africa. It is the other, you know, side 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:31.880 of the world. It was very far away from home, 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:34.760 and they were I don't know, help me if you can, 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.920 but I believe they were at least five thousand US 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:43.559 American fans with flags with you know, everyone wearing the 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:48.760 UH national team jersey be underneath their their within their clothing, 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:52.760 some of them on top of them. Um, and I 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:54.880 choked up. I really choked up. And I don't know 0:08:54.920 --> 0:09:00.360 if I helped uh my cry or they cried a 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:03.439 little bit. I definitely if I listened back to the 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:07.920 post game, I am sure I choked up several times 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.600 during that period because that was one of the most 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:17.400 emotional moments of of you know, US soccer history. Goals 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:19.520 in soccer can happen lots of different ways. That can 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.800 happen suddenly where you can't see it coming. They can 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:25.160 happen up a set piece, that can happen in open 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.439 play the way this goal that we're talking about happened, 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.199 where Tim Howard makes a beautiful outlet and you sit there, 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.640 you said, the best seat in the house, very high 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:36.040 vantage point. We're able to see the flow of the 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:38.960 spacing in a way differently than TV cameras can see it. 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:41.720 So it's our responsibility to help convey what we see 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:45.200 that maybe the TV audience isn't yet aware of. Your 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.959 call was beautiful leading up, of course to the the 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:51.040 famous goal call. Was the rhythm of it. You anticipated 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.200 what would happen. I compare a play like that to 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:57.559 a kickoff return in American football, where the ball settles 0:09:57.559 --> 0:09:59.480 in and you, from a high vantage point, can see 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:02.440 the block, can see the space, You're aware of their 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.720 returner's speed and what could happen. And that's so much 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.520 fun to be able to anticipate something then comes to happen. 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.920 You did that beautifully, because that's part of it, especially 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:14.400 in radio where people are not seeing what's going on, 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.480 and the art of it to build the excitement so 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:21.040 that the goal call has even more impact at the end. 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.200 You've had years of experience doing that, but still when 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:27.679 it's executed like that, it's it's the thing of beauty. Yeah, 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:31.800 it's the perfect combination. First of all, Uh, it's it 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:35.480 makes a whole lot of difference being on site than 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:40.040 calling the games off. Two Usually during the year, let's 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:44.959 say I go an average of two hundred games. Uh, 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:49.520 probably on a r done from the TV studios, so 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:53.120 all I get is whatever everyone else gets at home, 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.120 and have another advantage point like I did in this 0:10:56.280 --> 0:11:01.199 particular play. Um, I just don't want to about what 0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:04.440 I did. I hate talking in the first person, but 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:08.320 I do. I am amazed that I have the clarity 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:10.520 of mind to choose my words and build up to 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:16.440 the play because, as I said, I was totally exhausted. Um, 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:20.160 I wanted the play to finish in the US goal. 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:25.640 And it's it's very hard also to pick the right 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:28.960 words because if you go one world too long, the 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:33.360 play will beat you. So if I'm saying something else 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:36.480 and the ball gets crossed while I'm in the middle 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:41.280 of a sentence, uh, I as a broadcaster, I'm in big, 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:43.840 big trouble. So you have to choose your words, your 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:48.600 pace at the right time, not to you know, stumble 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:51.800 on on your play by player on yourself. So I 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:55.560 was very lucky that I had the clarity of mind. Um. 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:59.760 And I'm gonna tell you something that happened at a 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:05.439 lot right after that World Cup. Um. You know, besides 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:09.520 all the accolades I had in my career, which I 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:15.240 am blessed and grateful for, the most gratifying thing happened 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:18.839 after coming back from South Africa, people telling me I 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:23.360 stopped the car to listen to that goal. I listened. 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:27.680 I mean that goal you made us cry. Um. When 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:31.439 I came back from that World Up, when the customs 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:35.160 agent told me, I listened to your broadcast on radio, 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.600 when we all know that World Cups are made for 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:42.000 TV events, even though not everyone can watch. But as 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:46.240 soon as I set footback in our country in Miami 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:49.840 and the customers agent said, I listened to your call 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:54.560 and radio that was the Landon Donovan was awesome, I said, WHOA, 0:12:54.920 --> 0:13:00.960 I think it probably was a good call. That's an understatement. 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:03.920 How does it make you feel undressed when people say, 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:08.040 years later, we listen back and something you've said on 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:12.640 television or radio gives me chills, still makes me emotional 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:16.040 that that particular goal is one that US soccer fans 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:18.440 will return to when they don't feel so good about 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:19.880 the state of the national team, when they need a 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.080 pep talk, they'll they'll look back at goals like that 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:26.280 and and the short list of others, and they still 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:30.760 get the same emotional reactions, because, of course, what happened 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:33.320 the play is the main thing, but the soundtrack that 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.320 you're laying on top of it is also a big 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:37.800 part of the emotions that they feel, and emotions that 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:40.280 last forever. You've You've been told that I'm sure about 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:43.720 all kinds of goals from all kinds of national teams 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.840 and leagues you covered. Does that ever get old? Or 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:49.280 is it Is it still a thrill to hear that. No, 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:53.080 it's it's a thrill because it may it makes you 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:58.240 feel good about the job that you're doing, that you're 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:02.880 conveying while you're trying that it legitimizes what I tried 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:07.240 to convey on my broadcast, either on radio or on television. 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:11.000 That first of all, I you know, my goal is 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:14.880 to have the people that watch or that listened to 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:22.320 my broadcast being entertained, informed, and also I want them 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.120 on the edge of their seats from minute one to 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:29.160 minute ninety. And that is a testament that you know, 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:34.960 when people recognize so many years removed from from that day, 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:40.040 the emotions of that go call. This happened a few 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:43.239 weeks ago. I found out that I was London's Donovan's 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:45.840 birthday because I go and you know, I wake up 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:49.400 in the morning and my Twitter feed is full of 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:55.360 which people wishing London Happy birthday, replaying my go call. 0:14:56.240 --> 0:15:01.960 Somebody had the very good idea mounting my audio play 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:04.320 by play because I was calling from my radio company 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:10.040 from with video. They matched it exactly, so they had 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.280 you know, the on on my feet all all the 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.280 goal the gold goals from all the angles with my 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:22.320 play by play on it, so it's it's it's definitely 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:25.680 very nice when when people recognize that, you know, I 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:30.720 made them feel something other than just you know, telling 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.440 them something they did not know technically. I've heard you 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.600 talk about another goal involving the US national player on 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:40.760 the women's side, Carly Lloyd against Japan um a very 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.320 memorable game for US soccer fans because it was a 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:46.120 tense build up to the game and then the US 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:49.360 just dominated from the start. But to complete Carly Lloyd's 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:51.680 hat trick, I think it was only the sixteenth minute 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:53.640 of the game. It was already for nothing. But her 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:58.040 third goal was an unbelievable strike from the stripe of 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.840 midfield over the head of the happen He's keeper who 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:04.000 stumbles back where gets her fingertips on the ball. It 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:07.160 carromes off the goal post and goes in. I've watched 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:11.400 that that replay many many times. Your call, there's a goal. 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:13.600 No one could expect your analysts in the middle of 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:16.160 doing something because Japan has the ball in the US 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:18.920 and all of a sudden you need to take it 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.880 back because she's launched from midfield in a very unlikely goal. 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:25.840 And that was a memorable moment too, even though it 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:29.520 wasn't a maybe tension in the game because the score 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.400 was already three nail. Just the feet of a goal 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:39.160 from from midfield in a World Cup final, yeah Nilson, 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:28.960 so thick telling live he got three little take and kings. 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:33.160 I'll tell you to three different stories about that goal, 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:37.359 because there's a story behind every important goal, I guess 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:40.840 and people just you know, stay are watching at home 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.000 and think, Okay, this guy is just yelling, go well, 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:46.159 I'm gonna tell you a couple of stories. One, you 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:49.680 just said it the advantage point that you have been 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:52.399 on the pitch. If I would have been on the 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:56.119 calling the game off. Two, my color commentator would have 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.880 gone on to say and finish whatever he was saying, 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:04.440 because I could have not anticipated that Carly was going 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.359 to hit the ball from midfield because I saw the 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:11.000 goalkeeper way off her line. So as soon as Carly 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:14.359 got the ball and did this and for your for 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:18.280 this podcast audience and raising my head up to the air, 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:23.120 she's uh. In one second, she had the three six 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:28.040 view of where she was, where the ball was, where 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:31.159 the Japanese goalkeeper was, and where the goal was and 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:35.119 she hit it, So if I would have been in 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.119 the studio, there's not a chance that I would have 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:42.199 called the goal the way I called it. That is 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:44.399 one part of the story. The second part of the 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:48.200 story is UH. The night before I was in Santiago, 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:51.879 Chile calling for my radio company the final of the 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:57.679 World Cup that went into extra time and penalties. I 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:01.760 had two and a half hours to get from the 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:05.840 stadium to the airport to catch a flight UH from 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:10.919 Santiago to Dallas and then onwards to Vancouver. When the 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:13.919 game went into extra time, I said, what is it 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:16.119 am I going to do here? I mean, I gotta 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:20.760 be in Vancouver the next morning. UM. I called the 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.200 you know the obviously the extra time, I called the penalties. 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:27.440 As soon as Alexey Sanchez hit the last penalty for Chile, 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:31.320 I took off my headsets rushed to the airport. I 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:36.120 was lucky. I was sad that Argentina had lost, UM 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:42.040 and I was happy that Chile had won because everyone 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.960 stayed inside the stadium and there was no traffic to 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:48.320 get out. If Chila would have lost, no one would 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.800 have stayed for the ceremony and I would have been 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:53.840 stuck and I would have been fired from Telemundo as 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:57.479 easy as that. So anyways, I get to Vancouver, uh, 0:19:57.520 --> 0:20:00.200 pretty much with you know the sleep that you can 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:03.320 catch on an airplane. I get inside the stadium and 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:08.040 the first person I see is ground wall. We all 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:10.960 know when it is. What are you doing here? I 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:16.040 saw you yesterday in Chile. Yeah, that was yesterday. So anyways, 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:20.240 just to go back to the goal itself, as soon 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.640 as I saw Carly the I mean get the ball. 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.080 I knew she had a chance because I I was. 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:32.399 I was obviously very aware of where the Japanese goalkeeper was. 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:37.560 And I uh, I always say, regardless, I was, you know, 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.760 probably the game clincher sixteen minutes into the final. Regardless 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:46.280 of that. Scoring first of all, scoring a hat trick 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:48.960 in the World Cup final and scoring a goal from 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:53.320 midfield has to be one of the greatest goals in 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:57.959 soccer history, regardless of gender period. I have no doubts 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:01.679 in my mind. Uh, that was m extra they go 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:06.080 by Carly, an extravy game by Cardi having scored three. 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:09.960 So that's the story of that goal. Well, you you 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:13.200 summed up the challenge and the thrill of doing this 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:15.320 you have to describe what you see in the moment 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:18.359 using the words perfectly, but then you have to frame 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:20.919 it right away, and you did, I think, say, one 0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:23.600 of the greatest goals you've ever seen. You had the 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:25.840 perspective in the moment, which is part of the job 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:28.760 to frame it instantly, and since it's not just the 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:31.080 long goal. I think it was thirty eight seconds or 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:33.600 something like that that you said goal after that one, 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:36.760 and it was justified. But then to come back and 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:40.520 frame it perfectly afterwards. I've taken a lot from watching 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:43.159 people like yourself and the legends of calling soccer and 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:47.360 trying to use some of those techniques in calling American football, 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:50.159 where it's easy to shout touchdown, but then you have 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:53.280 to hopefully come up with the line right after that 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:57.160 that frames what that six points means. Does it clinch 0:21:57.240 --> 0:22:00.080 the game, does it announce that they're not dead, that 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:03.159 they're coming back. You hopefully have something come to mind 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:08.000 too punctuate after the goal, and you did that in 0:22:08.040 --> 0:22:10.640 that case beautifully. I want to get to some other 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:12.920 calls eventually another games, but let's go way back to 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:16.399 the beginning. You grew up in Argentina, obviously, soccer is 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:19.679 a religion. I know you. You played soccer as a 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:24.600 kid everywhere you could, every possible location, every free minute. 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:26.520 You weren't going to be the next Maradona, but you 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:28.640 had clearly a passion for the game as a kid, 0:22:28.680 --> 0:22:31.919 and pretty early on figured out that doing something with 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:37.920 my life that's associated with football would be would be fantastic. Yeah. 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:41.719 As I grew up in Argentina, every kid played football soccer. 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:46.440 Even though there were other sports around there weren't as 0:22:46.480 --> 0:22:52.080 popular as they are now, so everyone played um soccer 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:55.359 in the streets in our social gloves. There was no 0:22:56.440 --> 0:22:59.639 FIFA games there or no electronic games. I mean, I 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:02.399 will tell you how old I am by saying that 0:23:02.440 --> 0:23:05.359 we were all amazed when somebody got the remember the 0:23:05.400 --> 0:23:10.920 attari tennis thing that bumped around That was like yeah, yeah, 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:15.800 that was a crazy way back in my days. Anyway, So, uh, 0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:17.920 you know, when I moved to the US, I played 0:23:17.920 --> 0:23:21.919 in high school. Um, then I went to USC and 0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:26.600 played their USC wasn't wasn't affiliated to the n C 0:23:26.680 --> 0:23:29.399 Double A in their soccer program back in my days, 0:23:30.000 --> 0:23:34.640 so it was all club games. And I always lie 0:23:34.680 --> 0:23:38.520 and say that my career ended there because MLS didn't exist, 0:23:38.600 --> 0:23:40.639 so I had nowhere to go, which is not true 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:44.639 because I wouldn't have made it anyways. But I always 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:47.040 knew that I wanted to be around the game for sure, 0:23:47.840 --> 0:23:51.400 and I'm doing the next best thing to playing, which 0:23:51.480 --> 0:23:54.480 is broadcasting the games that I love so much. So 0:23:54.520 --> 0:23:57.800 growing up in Argentina, there's a legendary Argentine broadcaster Jose 0:23:57.960 --> 0:24:01.240 Maria Munios, who broadcast the World Cups. He was the 0:24:01.359 --> 0:24:05.159 voice on top of Maradona's goals in Mexico that the 0:24:05.160 --> 0:24:07.000 hand of God and then the brilliant go after that 0:24:07.040 --> 0:24:09.280 where he weaved through the entire England team scored it. 0:24:09.520 --> 0:24:12.480 And so you get to listen to a legend and 0:24:13.200 --> 0:24:16.520 people think you invented the long goal extended call that 0:24:16.520 --> 0:24:18.880 that that's You're very quick to point out that you 0:24:19.160 --> 0:24:21.520 may have popularized it or perfected it, but you didn't 0:24:21.520 --> 0:24:24.600 invent it. That that was the style of the broadcasters 0:24:24.640 --> 0:24:30.359 in Latin America. Now throughout Latin America, not only the 0:24:30.400 --> 0:24:35.280 audience has to understand that, what's the radio figure? He 0:24:35.440 --> 0:24:39.639 was larger than life. UH. He had the very first 0:24:39.760 --> 0:24:45.960 Pan regional UH soccer show that was heard throughout Latin America, 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:49.800 from Colombia all the way down too to Argentina, and 0:24:49.880 --> 0:24:55.640 he pretty much was the only UH play by play 0:24:55.960 --> 0:25:00.600 announcer all the time. There were others before him. And 0:25:00.680 --> 0:25:03.760 now you know, if you go on the weekend in 0:25:03.880 --> 0:25:06.960 Argentina or you know you do tune in, there are 0:25:07.040 --> 0:25:11.399 ten radio stations broadcasting the same game. Before it was 0:25:11.440 --> 0:25:14.720 only him, so we all listened to him, or him 0:25:14.760 --> 0:25:18.840 and a couple of oars. But we he had of 0:25:18.840 --> 0:25:21.080 the share of the audience, so we all grew up 0:25:21.119 --> 0:25:23.239 listening to him, whether we liked him or not. So 0:25:23.840 --> 0:25:28.639 obviously it was an era where people would go to 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:33.080 the stadium with the old transistor radio blue to their ears, 0:25:33.359 --> 0:25:36.520 before headphones and before everything else. So we went to 0:25:36.600 --> 0:25:40.280 the stadiums listening to his play by play, and obviously 0:25:40.320 --> 0:25:43.720 there was no delay on radio, so you know, it 0:25:43.840 --> 0:25:47.960 was very, very instructive in the way that you watched 0:25:48.000 --> 0:25:51.080 the game as a fan, but you were also listening 0:25:51.640 --> 0:25:56.200 to his commentary, commentators, his commentary, his play by play. 0:25:56.400 --> 0:26:00.840 So that is how I grew up watching and listening 0:26:00.840 --> 0:26:04.840 to soccer. So you come to the United States, you 0:26:04.960 --> 0:26:07.280 take in English classes. I read in Argentina, but that 0:26:07.320 --> 0:26:11.640 doesn't necessarily prepare you for having to speak colloquial English 0:26:11.920 --> 0:26:14.480 in America. And you said, like a lot of immigrant kids, 0:26:14.520 --> 0:26:18.440 your teenagers are tough, yere to to to relocate to 0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:20.960 another country. I moved around to different schools during that time. 0:26:21.000 --> 0:26:23.520 I know how tough that was. And that was within 0:26:23.560 --> 0:26:27.760 the United States, changing cultures and languages. You've said it 0:26:27.800 --> 0:26:31.200