the commentary is the worst i've ever heard in my life and they need to stop with facts about the US every 5 mins, thats disrespectful. I just mute the tv and have my compute tuned to bbc radio five live for the commentaries most of the time. HAVE SOME OF THESE PEOPLE EVER PLAYED SOCCER B/4, ok, maybe 3 of 'em, but please get better professional commentators
Simply awful. You have a great announcer in JP Dellacamara, yet for some reason, he's taken a back seat in 2 straight World Cups to absolutely horrendous "lead teams".
So many quality broadcasters, who know the game, at the club and interational level, and you pick O'Brien. Pitiful.
Way to remind us how much favoritism and general back-slapping BS goes on in Bristol. I'm surprised you didn't just stick Berman out there...
I have already commented on the superiority of Healey and Smyth to date... and clearly they are not the best in the world. I know that nothing will change in 2006... contracts are already signed... but please think ahead to 2010. Thank you.
it has become laugable how bad the espn announcing continues to be. it's astonishing that, with group play almost over, some announcers still don't even know the basic rules of the game!
My brother played DI college soccer and he pointed this out to me. I am also disgusted by this choice of announcers, it is a good reflection of why the USA is still looked down upon in the football world.
dave o'brien doesn't know football at all, and i'm just tired of hearing him refer to a cross as "spinning the ball in" and a header as "nodding the ball out." It is painfull to have the greatest sporting event butchered by a baseball announcer who knows nothing about this game.
It's so painful to listen to the announcers talk as if this were a baseball or basketball game. It's ok for them to be quite and allow "dead air". It's not as if the fans can change to a different channel to watch the game.
A couple cute accents do not make the World Cup digestable and inject global culture to Americans. Announcers who can provide real insight do. Please, please, please, please. Reconsider.
Please remove Dave O'Brien from commenting immediately! I have started watching matches on Univision to avoid having the match spoiled by his insane chatter.
glad to see im not the only one who thinks the espn commentators represent how ignorant certain americans are and how reluctant they seem to be to consider the World Cup important. Horse Racing gets better coverage!! Every four years i pretend i live in England.
Giorgio Chinaglia needs to be taken back the the home. He is worthless as a commentator and despite his accomplishments as a player, he is nothing less than a spiteful old man who wants nothing more than to slam anybody who plays for AS ROMA (e.g. Francesco Totti). Please get rid of that guy. Secondly, somebody tell the guys in the booth to shut up. Part of the game is buildup - they don't keep flapping their lips in the breeze about a sport, player, and countries they know nothing about and have no interest in. JUST WATCH.
because we have to get these retards off the air. Dave O'Brien just makes me want o hit the mute button right after I puke. His voice is only good for "This World Cup is brought to you by ". Dave O'Brien can't even get Beckham's name right - he called him Michael Beckett!!!! Get rid of the guy NOW! And Marcello too.
I'm at most a casual soccer fan so I don't feel the need to sit through such horrible commentators just because it's soccer. Therefore I find myself turning off the games with the baseball announcer. I suppose he'll be doing the finals too and unfortunately I don't think I care enough to watch if that's the case. I suppose this is the same logic that brings us Stewart Scott for the NBA finals instead of one of your many basketball people :(
Balboa is strangely and insistently negative on England. O'Brien doesn't know soccer. But, Dellacamera is great! Harkes is fine, the Brits are entertaining. Foudy & Wynalda do great analysis - very entertaining.
Announcers kept getting the Korean soccer players names wrong. Learn the players before the game. Analysts (former US players) are not informed about non-US soccer.
ESPN may be trying to appeal to a new soccer fan, but they'll never hold any fans if they keep providing such blatantly ignorant information, not to mention the useless random factoids.
Most of us watch to see the game. Having no announcers at all and just broadcasting the ambient noise of the stadium would be much preferable to the hacks currently pretending.
Just as Smyth and Healy shouldn't cover baseball, O'brien shouldn't cover soccer. Unless you (ESPN and ABC) drop American commentators immediately, I will learn Spanish and watch Univision.
