WEBVTT - Andrés Cantor: The Man Behind "Goooool!" 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:04.320 Dear let you know USA listener. Before we start, you 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:06.720 should know that if you want to listen to this 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:11.480 episode ad free, just join plus and you can join 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:15.040 for as little as seven dollars a month. Joining also 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:19.360 gets you behind the scenes access and yes, some cheesemake. 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:23.959 So click the link in the episode description and after 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:35.920 you do that, then click play. Let's go to the show. Hello, 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:39.600 dear listener, the Men's World Cup is underway. Don't know 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:43.640 if you noticed. Futuro Studios has actually released a new 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:47.520 podcast about soccer culture in the United States and it's 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:51.320 Underdog Roots. Oh my god, I love it so so 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.560 much because I don't know anything about football, but I 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:58.840 love it Underdog Story. The podcast is called American Football 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:01.760 and it's a show that goes beyond the sport to 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:04.680 the people and the stories that make it great. It's 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:08.720 hosted by our very own Fernanda Echavari. In one of 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:13.320 their recent episodes, Fernanda sat down with sports announcer Andres Cantor. 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:16.880 He is the voice of soccer for so many in 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.400 the United States and beyond. He talks about the art 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.640 of calling a game, what his viral moment from the 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:27.920 last World Cup shows about men getting emotional about soccer, 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:33.320 and he reveals his pregame routine on mena press play 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:34.399 so you can listen. 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:42.720 Andres Cantor has been a sports announcer for almost forty years. 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.480 He's received eight Emmy Awards for his broadcasting and a 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.800 place in the National Soccer Hall of Fame. You know 0:01:49.880 --> 0:02:01.000 his voice that he has watched an announced countless games, 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:03.360 but there's one moment at the end of the last 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:06.440 World Cup in Qatar that is seered into his memory. 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:08.120 Benol Football. 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:14.400 The final was a roller coaster of emotions in itself. 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:19.600 It took us from Argentina's domination against the defending world 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.840 champion to France tying the match. 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:27.239 Review Francia, Argentina goes up three to two, then France 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.880 ties again. It's three to three, taking the game all 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:33.000 the way to penalty kicks. 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:33.520 By the peak. 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:37.440 When when the peak age started, I was ready to 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:42.799 like pass out. What happened in Qatar with Argentina and 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:57.680 Messi winning the World Cup is one of my favorite moments. 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:00.679 If you weren't watching this in real time, maybe you've 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.120 seen the clip on social media andres Cantor wearing a 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.480 perfectly pressed baby blue button up shirt, clinging to his 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:13.200 headset microphone, screaming with joy, his tears barely visible behind 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.680 his round framed glasses as he hugs his fellow announcer. 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:20.680 I think this video is such a beautiful thing to watch. 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.400 The moment was my true self. 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:45.840 Are you a crier? Are you an emotional guy? 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:46.160 Yeah? 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:49.080 I could say I'm emotional. I'm not hardle as a 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:51.720 rog when it comes to shelling tears. So if I 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:53.520 have to shadow one, I will. 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:59.000 What do you think about Soccer makes men who may 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:03.440 otherwise be very like Rah kiss each other and hug 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:07.560 each other and celebrate and like cry. 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:10.640 I got it the Magic of Soccer. 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:20.120 From Futuro Studios. I'm Fernande Chavarri and this is American Football, 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.480 a show about soccer culture in the US and it's 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:36.680 underdog roots. I've gotten to do a lot of wonderful 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:40.040 interviews for this podcast, and I've enjoyed every single one 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:43.480 of them. But when the video calls started with Argentinian 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:48.080 announcer Andres Cantor, I kind of had a moment of like, wait, 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:51.600 what I know that voice. That's the voice that calls 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:56.159 the games. His voice means soccer to me. We spoke 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:58.640 a few weeks before the World Cup started, and right 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:02.000 away when he introduced him, his chill vive put me 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:04.480 at ease. I think most of our audience knows who 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:07.080 you are, but if you don't mind introducing yourself, who 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:08.960 you are and what you're known for. 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:12.480 Sure, I'm known for being a good guy, a good 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.920 dub oh, I love that, and yelling goal. 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:21.720 During his now almost forty year career sportscasting, he has 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:26.479 cemented himself as the voice of soccer, first calling games 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:29.440 for NBCON as far back as nineteen eighty seven and 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.480 then moving over to Telemundo in two thousand. I mean 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:35.479 his goal call has literally sold as a ringtone on 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:40.760 Telemundo's website. His charismatic and energetic game narrations have helped 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:44.000 popularize the sport in the United States, even for those 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:48.400 who don't speak Spanish, especially in nineteen ninety four when 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:51.359 he was an announcer doing the first World Cup hosted 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:54.560 in the US. David Letterman even brought him on the 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:55.760 Late Show at the time. 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:57.960 Here now to call a goal from a World Cup 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:03.159 game played yesterday, Please welcome visions Andrea's cantor Andreas. 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.240 Two decades later, in twenty fourteen, he guest starred in 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:15.520 one of the most American shows of all times. 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:22.120 And Contor, you know that is incorrect usage. I have 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:28.520 no control. This job has taken. It's all. 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.200 I always say that. Sometimes I end up my broadcasts 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:39.680 feeling as tired as the players have run fifteen miles. 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:40.040 On a match. 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:43.640 Listening to Cantor during a game, it's like watching a 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:48.280 virtuoso jazz artist freestyle NonStop for ninety minutes or more. 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.200 And much like a musician, Cantor needs to protect his 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:56.120 instrument when you are calling these games back to back 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:58.719 to back. How do you sort of reset or recharge 0:06:58.720 --> 0:06:59.240 your voice. 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.320 I'm supposed to do all the things singers do, which 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:08.560 is rest the mind, rest the soul, rest my body, 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.720 which you try to get us many hours of sleep. 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:16.680 The recommendation is before and after. 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:23.080 Silence, so okay, no talking before or after sportscasting, which 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:26.080 actually can be kind of hard, especially after. 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:30.200 The game, because obviously somebody will go for an interview. 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:34.400 We have a post production meeting, and then you go 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:37.240 out and keep on talking, and you go out to 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:41.040 dinner and the surrogance, Oh, I listen to your goal, 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:43.239 but you said there was a penalty. It was a penalty, 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:46.840 and so I can't be rude and say I can't 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:47.920 speak well. 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:51.040 He makes all of this look so effortless. It takes 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:56.520 a ton of preparation and pure talent, especially because. 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:02.920 I hate scripted material. I add, some producers fight me 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.240 because I do not like using teleprompter. 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:08.720 What do you do? What does it look like? 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:13.520 So you're going to reveal trade secrets? Please? 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:18.360 I just have so many questions about your process. 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:24.120 It is easier around the World Cups than it is 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:30.440 on a regular weekend where you know, let's say I'm 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:34.360 calling the Premier League for Telemundo. Right before, I would 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:37.679 tell you I would go watch tape. Now, with all 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:41.319 the resources that we have at our disposal, it's much 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.960 much easier now, I tell you, I'll go on YouTube 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.680 and find the game of Burnley, the last weekend's game, 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:53.240 and I study how they play. I study the characteristics 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:57.319 of the players. If Smith has long hair, if Johnson 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:01.600 uses like a ritband that I got to identify him 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:05.080 by not even looking at his shirt number. So there 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:09.079 are little tricks that I use to try to identify 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:12.760 the players. Come the World Cup, it's pretty much the 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:16.120 same process. I will give you one of the games 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:20.200 that I have Germany against Kurasau. Germany, I could probably 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:23.960 go like this, close my eyes and I will have 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:29.240 a sense of who has the ball. Kurasau I haven't 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:33.600 seen yet. I'm in the process of compiling all their information. 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:36.959 They're playing the World Cup for the first time in history. 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.520 Is the smallest country to participate in a World Cup. 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:43.959 He's a bit old school about how he likes his research. 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:47.160 I still like to write my notes and have them 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:49.880 on paper, even though I could have him electronically on 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:54.560 a tablet. I take my sharpiece. I use different colors 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:56.600 for the team lineup that I have in front of me. 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:01.440 I use a yellow highlighter to mark whenever the player 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:06.160 is given a yellow card. I take my old fashioned chronometer. Really, 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:09.679 I know, it's kind of my lucky. Char might still 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:12.480 have my old chrona with me. 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:16.920 He drinks a ton of water. But food that's a 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:17.760 whole other story. 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:22.760 I usually don't eat my cut of It's probably like 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:26.440 four or five hours before a match. I will not 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:30.520 have even a bite. I'll wait until everything is done 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:30.800 to me. 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.760 And no matter how many decades he's been calling. 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:44.000 Games, there's always that sense of a potential embarrassment on 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:48.320 national television. It doesn't really matter whether you're a rookie 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:51.840 or a forty year pro. Anything can happen on live TV. 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.439 Anything that you say, anything that you miss say, anything 0:10:55.480 --> 0:11:00.520 that you miss pronounce, anything that you miss in interpret, 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:06.480 any players you identified wrongly. When you're surrounded by sixty 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:11.880 thousand yelling fans, producer talking to me in my ear, 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:16.000 the emotions of the game, and the fast pace of 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:20.920 the sport itself, you really have to work your mind 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:25.800 to make sure that everything comes out the way you 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:29.360 want it to be. So it's taxing on the mind. 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:33.160 So now we know how a real pro does this, 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:36.280 but how exactly did he get into this in the 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:36.880 first place. 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:39.280 As a matter of fact, I did not want to 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:40.280 become an announcer. 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:42.720 That's coming up after the break. 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.559 Hey, I'm Isa medinak Median and host of I'm Right 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.080 Your Wrong Podcast, a comedy podcast about the everyday debates 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.760 we've all had at brunch. Every week, I welcome on 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:11.960 a special guest the likes of Leo Gonzalez, Morgan, Jay Teffi, 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:14.920 Possoa and Moore to talk about what they think is 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:18.480 right or wrong, but mostly we banter chiese moosiamos and 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:21.120 keep you company. Check out new episodes of I'm Right 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:32.240 Your Wrong podcast every Wednesday anywhere you get your podcasts. 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:43.160 It's American football. I'm Fernande Charvari. Growing up in Argentina 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:47.640 in the nineteen sixties, Andres Cantor couldn't escape soccer. 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:50.760 The first gift that every gift got was a soccer bowl, 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:54.640 so that was probably my first memory gigging a ball 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:58.040 when I was probably four years old, five years old. 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:02.840 In Argentina, there's social clubs where you go every weekend 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.400 and spend time, and all I was played football. 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.080 Did you ever think about playing professionally? 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:09.760 I did. 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:15.200 I tried out in Argentina when I was twelve thirteen. 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:20.160 I last I think it was no more than ten minutes, 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:22.400 and they took me off. But there were so many 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:27.439 kids trying out at the youth level, and I obviously 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.319 had the dream yes of playing professional, but I wasn't 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:33.760 good enough to make it to the pros. 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.480 And when he wasn't playing soccer, he was listening to 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:40.960 matches on the radio. To one guy in particular, his 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:42.760 version of Andres Cantor. 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:48.240 There was one gentleman, the best broadcaster at the time, 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:53.360 that had ninety percent share of the audience. Everyone listened 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:57.320 to him, called Jose Maria Munos. So I guess I 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:01.480 got his rhythms in my years, you know, for life, 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:05.040 because we all listened to him and his broadcast and 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:07.600 his way of calling games. 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:11.640 What did he sound like? 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:20.520 He was always very, very energetic during his play by play. 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:30.680 And his broadcast, And while Cantor would listen to Munos 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.560 on the radio, he would sit down and write. 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:37.320 I sat in front of my dad typewriter and wrote 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.080 the game report just for. 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:42.400 My own sake, for fun, for fun. 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:47.240 Yeah, I have, I guess, acute observation of what I've seen, 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:51.560 and I started reading the game pretty much better than 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:56.480 any any kid my age. But I never thought for 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:59.480 a minute I would end up doing TV and radio, 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:00.040 which is. 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.000 Unbelievable, crazy, do you think. 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:04.920 Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did not want 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:09.600 to become an announcer. I liked writing. 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.760 When he first moved to southern California as a teenager, 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:18.680 he wasn't exactly thrilled. 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:23.520 Sacramento, California. It's a very big and vibrant city now, 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:26.920 but back in the seventies it was very, very different 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.920 than Buenos Aires, and I suffered a lot because I 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:34.840 was pretty much miserable that first year. I was missing 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:39.240 absolutely everything that I have in Buenos Aires. 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.720 His parents, who were both doctors, eventually moved the family 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:46.840 to Los Angeles. So the second move is to la 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:50.640 bigger city, more soccer, maybe a little. 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:51.480 Bit more soccer. Yes. 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:55.560 I started playing in my high school team in my 0:15:55.680 --> 0:16:00.760 senior year San Marino High School. I always bragg We 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:03.640 reached the final CIF for the first time in history 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:06.120 when I was there, so I was a fine year. 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:08.240 I made some new friends. 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:10.040 In the team, and just like when he was a 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.920 child back in Argentina, writing was a constant. He was 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:16.760 the editor of sports pages for his high school newspaper. 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:20.320 He got a journalism degree from USC without taking a 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:24.320 single broadcast class. Mind blown, and one day he went 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:26.200 from writing to using his voice. 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:31.359 Since I was covering as a writer many sporting events 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:36.360 in Los Angeles, many of the biggest fights of boxing's 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.800 history in Las Vegas, etc. I coincided with a lot 0:16:40.840 --> 0:16:46.800 of American media, and one day in February of nineteen 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:51.640 eighty seven, I get asked if I could come into 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:56.040 Univision studios for an addition, because they were looking for 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.160 either a soccer commentator. 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.200 Or a soccer play by player. Now, Sir, I had 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:02.040 a lucky. 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:06.040 Break and the probaly within a week, I got a 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:10.960 call from Corgaveri, whom I pretty much owe my career two, 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:12.280 and say. 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:19.399 You're hired, coming up. I wrap up my conversation with 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:22.960 andres Cantor by talking about some of his all time 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:26.840 favorite soccer moments and his impressions about the twenty twenty 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:49.520 six FIFA Men's World Cup. We'll be right back. It's 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:55.480 American football. I'm Fernande CHAVARRII I couldn't not ask Andres 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:59.840 Cantor about his favorite soccer moments. First one was in 0:17:59.880 --> 0:18:00.639 the seventies. 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.680 I was again in Argentina and watched Argentina win it 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:10.720 first woke up in nineteen seventy eight Argentina can Fiond Rondol. 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:18.119 His second favorite would later be called the goal of 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:18.760 the Century. 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:23.879 I was already working for a Graphico magazine of Argentina 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:28.480 in nineteen eighty six, and so my biggest idol, Diego 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:34.080 Maradona lifts the Trophy and score the most beautiful goal 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:41.680 in the history of the World Cup against England. 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:52.359 They're both Argentina moments, oh yo. And then there's also 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:54.840 the one that we started the episode with when he 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:58.439 got super emotional watching Argentina win in twenty twenty two, 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:01.800 but taking Argentina out of the equation. 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:06.080 I remember one of my goals, London Donovan's goal for 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:10.560 the US against Al Years in South Africa twenty ten, 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:15.119 last minute extra time. The US was being eliminated of 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:19.760 group phase, which was a big embarrassment, and he scored 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:35.120 on a counter attack and I left it all out. 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.960 Five years later, I was very lucky enough to see 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:43.440 Carly Lloyd score a hat trick in the FIFA Women's 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:49.320 World Cup Final in Vancouver, and the third goal was 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:54.120 from midfield, and I always say that that was probably one, 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:58.359 regardless of gender, one of the greatest World Cup final 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:15.800 goals of all times. So the Talle Live Country Quatroso. 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:18.880 And King Semuta. 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:24.359 During our hour long conversation, I think I made it 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:28.240 pretty clear that I love to talk about logistics and process, 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:31.040 so I was curious about what his day to day 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:33.760 will look like for this World Cup, because for the 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:37.399 first time ever in the almost one hundred years of 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:42.840 World Cups. This time there are three host countries, three 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:44.320 big countries. 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:48.600 Qatar was beautiful because I slept in the same hotel room, 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:53.040 same bed for forty days. Now I get to go 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:56.320 to eight different cities in all three countries that are 0:20:56.400 --> 0:21:00.200 hosting the World Cup. So I get calling game hop 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:04.600 on a Blaine repeat. I'll go from LA to Houston 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:09.480 to Vancouver to Dallas to Kansas, to Miami to Alakata. 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:11.200 Are you a really good packer? 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:13.359 Yeah, I'm used to it. 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:18.480 I usually take whatever it's necessary, and I've learned that 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:22.320 if I forget something, there's always somewhere where I can 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:23.800 buy whatever I forgot. 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:24.240 If I need to. 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:29.560 If you've been keeping up with this podcast series, you 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.399 know that this World Cup is widely regarded in the 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:37.120 US as a consequential one for many, many reasons. Here's 0:21:37.160 --> 0:21:39.800 what soccer starred tap Ramos told me in an earlier 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:43.280 episode in nineteen ninety four. I feel like it was 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:46.840 sort of the birth of soccer here. Twenty twenty six 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:49.280 has to be the World Cup that makes soccer permanent, 0:21:49.640 --> 0:21:50.920 and Cantor agrees. 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:56.640 Back in nineteen ninety four, I knew that soccer had 0:21:56.680 --> 0:21:59.000 to make it in America. So we depend on the 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:03.600 World Cup being popular among the general margil for people 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:05.679 that had never seen a. 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:07.200 Soccer match in their lives, etc. 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:11.320 But as much as I said in nineteen ninety four, 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:15.360 we need to have a good World Cup in all 0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:19.520 sense of the word for the sport to explode definitely 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:24.800 now in this World Cup will solidify the fandom of 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:28.920 people that are going to be either new to the 0:22:29.000 --> 0:22:33.879 sport or that already watched the sport, and will solidify 0:22:34.440 --> 0:22:36.040 their loyalties to organ. 0:22:37.040 --> 0:22:39.159 On top of the pressure of this World Cup to 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:42.920 finally take soccer out of its underdog status in the US, 0:22:43.680 --> 0:22:48.280 It's also happening during a particularly volatile period in geopolitics. 0:22:48.920 --> 0:22:51.840 Whereas the typical attitude of host countries has been one 0:22:51.880 --> 0:22:56.720 of open embrace, the Trump administration stands has been overly hostile, 0:22:57.320 --> 0:23:01.800 throwing four qualified nations on a visa and others on 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:05.879 a soft blocklist. It caused a kind of dark miasma 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:09.680 painting for many a tournament they feel should just be 0:23:09.800 --> 0:23:14.680 a positive global celebration. As historian Jonathan Wilson said in 0:23:14.760 --> 0:23:19.240 our first episode, I think this is a World Cup 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:23.640 that people approach you in trepidation. Even with this backdrop, 0:23:23.960 --> 0:23:27.720 andres Cantor is optimistic about the future of soccer in 0:23:27.800 --> 0:23:28.240 the US. 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:32.960 Politics aside. It's a different country altogether. It's definitely not 0:23:33.080 --> 0:23:36.159 the same as it was in nineteen ninety four. The 0:23:36.240 --> 0:23:39.440 biggest difference, I would say is sandom. You would pull 0:23:39.800 --> 0:23:42.399 one hundred people in nineteen ninety four about do you 0:23:42.520 --> 0:23:46.040 know what the World Cup is? Probably seventy would say, 0:23:46.240 --> 0:23:49.320 I have no idea, And if you do the same now, 0:23:49.440 --> 0:23:51.280 it's probaty the opposite. 0:23:51.760 --> 0:23:53.760 Thirty would know and seventy would know. 0:23:54.840 --> 0:23:57.800 Way back in nineteen ninety four, nobody could watch more 0:23:57.880 --> 0:24:01.760 than one game per weekend on television, the ones that 0:24:01.880 --> 0:24:03.160 we were calling on Univision. 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:05.639 So the fandom is that much greater. 0:24:06.880 --> 0:24:12.120 I'll quote Billy Joel in Piano Man, hopefully we will 0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:16.320 all forget life for a while during the thirty nine 0:24:16.400 --> 0:24:21.200 days of competition and then hoping that the world's problems 0:24:21.280 --> 0:24:21.879 get fixed. 0:24:31.000 --> 0:24:33.560 At the risk of sounding Pollyanna, this is something that 0:24:33.640 --> 0:24:36.480 I talked about in episode one. The escape that the 0:24:36.560 --> 0:24:40.240 World Cup provides for so many of us, and its 0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:45.680 significance here in the US for immigrants and kits of immigrants. Well, 0:24:45.760 --> 0:24:47.520 my last question is a bit of a personal one. 0:24:48.200 --> 0:24:51.000 Soccer to me, I don't know the stats. I can't 0:24:51.040 --> 0:24:53.160 tell you you know who plays one during the weekend. 0:24:53.200 --> 0:24:56.080 But when the World Cup happens, I go nuts and 0:24:56.160 --> 0:24:58.720 I go hard and I get really into it. And 0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:01.080 my dad was always the connection to soccer for me 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:03.880 since I was little, And this is the first World 0:25:03.920 --> 0:25:06.480 Cup that I'm going to experience it without him. This 0:25:06.640 --> 0:25:09.280 is the first one since his passing. So there's a 0:25:09.400 --> 0:25:13.159 lot of connection to soccer that is beyond the sport, 0:25:13.320 --> 0:25:17.000 that is about family, that it's about connection. So I'm 0:25:17.080 --> 0:25:19.240 just curious who's the person that sort of does that 0:25:19.359 --> 0:25:19.520 for you. 0:25:20.560 --> 0:25:23.920 You asked me before if I am emotional, and I 0:25:24.000 --> 0:25:26.359 got emotional to hearing your story, and I know that 0:25:26.520 --> 0:25:33.800 you will when you hear me he got a lot 0:25:33.960 --> 0:25:38.639 of things will go through your mind and they're all 0:25:38.800 --> 0:25:42.760 going to be beautiful memories. I have no doubt where 0:25:42.880 --> 0:25:48.240 that Mexican Jersey proud. Think about your dad and think 0:25:48.280 --> 0:25:55.000 about who you are and what your dad allowed you 0:25:55.119 --> 0:25:59.879 to become. If I may say, you know, my two 0:26:00.040 --> 0:26:05.359 beautiful kids, my wife, and you know when Argentina won 0:26:05.400 --> 0:26:08.320 the World Up in twenty twenty two. Obviously, I got 0:26:08.359 --> 0:26:11.200 a big hug from my son. Actually he was pitch 0:26:11.280 --> 0:26:13.800 sided and I don't know how. He found me at 0:26:13.880 --> 0:26:16.400 the presentation studio and we hugged and cried. 0:26:16.320 --> 0:26:17.119 Oh, that's amazing. 0:26:17.400 --> 0:26:28.680 With a video that also went very, very viral. I'm 0:26:28.720 --> 0:26:31.720 going to close by saying that I am the luckiest 0:26:31.800 --> 0:26:37.680 person in the world because I worked doing what I 0:26:37.800 --> 0:26:42.200 love the most. I've been given the best seat in 0:26:42.280 --> 0:26:45.560 the house for the last forty years. They pay me 0:26:45.680 --> 0:26:49.040 for it, and I've been very lucky to be surrounded 0:26:49.119 --> 0:26:52.679 by great professionals and a great family that has allowed 0:26:52.720 --> 0:26:53.199 me to. 0:26:53.320 --> 0:26:53.879 Do what I do. 0:26:54.840 --> 0:26:59.400 So every time, and believe me, this is true, every 0:26:59.480 --> 0:27:03.560 time I walk onto a broadcast booth at the stadium, 0:27:04.760 --> 0:27:07.359 being the first game or the final, I'll just go 0:27:08.200 --> 0:27:11.880 I'll pinch myself, even though it's something that it's part 0:27:11.960 --> 0:27:16.440 of my regular job, but I will still pinch myself 0:27:16.520 --> 0:27:20.399 and say how lucky I am, and I. 0:27:20.480 --> 0:27:23.199 Am thank you so much for sharing that with us. 0:27:27.160 --> 0:27:30.560 That was an episode of American Football, a new podcast 0:27:30.680 --> 0:27:35.159 about US soccer culture from Futuro Studios. Make sure to 0:27:35.280 --> 0:27:41.720 go to the American Football podcast That's Futbol and subscribe. 0:27:42.160 --> 0:27:45.000