This legendary sportscaster brought energy back to FIFA, one ‘GOOOOOL!’ at a time
When you’re with the tíos watching fútbol in the living room, a sudden sound sends everyone into a frenzy: ¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!
Legendary sports analyst Andrés Cantor’s celebratory goal call has shaped how Latinos — and the occasional appreciative gringo — think about soccer.
On Friday, attendees at the National Association of Hispanic Journalist Conference heard from the Argentinian broadcaster about his more than 20 years of fast-paced, unpredictable, adrenaline-jumping play-by-plays.
Inspired in part by Mexican and Colombian radio hosts, Cantor’s voice infused broadcasts with personality and energy.
“I was very fortunate that I happened to been to be at the right place at the right time for the 1994 World Cup game,” Canton said. “Then people realized that there was another way of celebrating the most important play in a soccer match.”
Next year, Cantor will call some of the 104 matches during 59 days where 48 teams compete for what he calls the “Double XXL World Cup.”
Viviana Garcia is a recent journalism graduate from California State University in Fullerton. She’s headed to New York University for a graduate degree in multimedia journalism and aspires to a career as a television news producer. Reach her at 06vivianagarcia [at] gmail [dot] com or on LinkedIn at @vivianagarcia.
