I think Dave O'Brien if he spent more time doing soccer will be great at what he is doing. It is Marcelo Balboa I cannot stand. This guy just always has his facts messed up.
Please afford soccer the same respect you would give other sports and hire commentators knowledeable about the game. If I have to hear "silvestre" pronounced "silvestry" one more time, I'm going to lose it.
omg S'IL VOUS PLAIT !!! seconded and thirded all the above. you are following a regressive car salesmanesque strategy with these first string announcers, alienating real futball fans (who should be your target) and taking away from the sport.
I can't stand the idiotic things Balboa is saying about referees, and it is downright embarassing to listen to these guys spouting drivel when I'm watching in the company of my foreign colleagues.
1) No announcers should wear pink. Ever.
2) Marcello Balboa is an idiot.
3) If I have to hear "but still" or "professional foul" or "talk to him then give him a card" one more time i'm gonna scream.
Its really a shame to have to watch the world cup with the audio OFF.
Amen to all that. And more: what's up w/ all the graphics covering the action. We don't tune in to watch ABC's graphics, but to watch the game. And if you want the best English speaking annoucers for international soccer games, maybe you should check out those who have become world famous through Fox Soccer Channel's broadcasting of EPL and other top league fixures, including Champion's League games.
O'brien is a job, not only does he not know soccer, he couldn't even pronounce the name of soccer players when reading those interest tidbits the producers feed him. At least prepare by getting the names right. He is AWFUL!!
i understand why it made sense to not have the guys with the funny accents be the lead broadcasting team. i know that you are just trying to introduce the masses to the sport in a way that is pallatable to them. as much as i love marcello balboa as a player, he makes me throw things at the television. john harkes isn't much better. i'm not even gonna comment on the baseball guy. please, for the love of god, (and more importantly, the beautiful game which s/he loves) let derek rae and tommy smyth work all of the big games.
Where does ESPN get these hacks? I want to see Davis and Messings resumes.An absolute joke. I hate those two, really, I hate them, and will do them bodily harm if I'm within range.Had to listen to these muppets at the pub today, hate them I do. Soccer will never make it in the states with jerks like that.
Watch the matches on Univision, better everything, players names are said the same as in English, or print-out rosters off fifaworldcup.com. The Spanish callers have passion and joy that translates to all football fans.
One more rant: It's Ukraine, NOT The Ukraine. One more time Ukraine, not THE Ukraine.
Tommy Smyth and Derek Rae are the only class that ESPN has! The people who are making decisions at ESPN obviously are out of touch with their viewers and do not know anything about soccer. Dan O'Brian and many of the other american announcers are terrible.
The commentators are poor, the only one that escapes this is Balboa. Apart from that give us some pregame ambiance. Just like you guys do for NFL games and the other sports in this country.
I support this petition.
Today, during the Spain - Saoudi Arabia game, the ESPN broadcasters were actually making fun of the Spanish Radio broadcasters because -get this- those guys were excited about the game...
the American announcers are extremely bad. Get rid of them, especially Stone/Frasier. Having incompetent announcers makes a mockery of the game and does not help the image of USA overseas. Please Please put Smyth/Healey and other knowledgeable European announcers on your broadcast. I tune to the Spanish channels even though I don't understand it because they make it sound so much more exciting. Your announcers are killing the game.
Please hire British or any announcer with deep knowledge of soccer. The announcing and post-game analysis has been shallow and insulting to your viewer's intelligence.
I have played in Sweden and England, and coached in the US. I am embarrassed at the ESPN on-air commentary. Tommie Smyth is good, and Wynalda and Foudi offer good postgame analysis. But please get Delacameron to tone down the hype.
Dave O'Brian and Rob Stone are the worst things to happen to this World Cup! They are absolutely atrocious! John Harkes, Marcelo Balboa, Glenn Davis, Julie Foudy, and Alexi Lalas should all be fired from their positions because they are absolutely clueless when it comes to World Soccer!
Dave O'Brian and Marecello Balboa are a joke. It's embarassing as a US soccer fan watching them butcher the game. At least use JP Dellacamera and John Harkes for your lead announcers.
