This may have been posted before when it was announced in January but I figured it'd be good to have a reminder: Tuesday, April 15, 8 p.m. – “Hillsborough” Tuesday, April 22, 7 p.m. – “Maradona ’86” followed by “The Opposition” Tuesday, April 29, 7p.m. – “The Myth of Garrincha” followed by “Ceasefire Massacre” Tuesday, May 6, 7 p.m. – “Mysteries of the Rimet Trophy” followed by “Barbosa: The Man Who Made Brazil Cry” Tuesday, July 1, 8 p.m. – “White, Blue and White”
Information about the episodes from ESPN Australia website (note times listed is when airing on ESPN Australia in AEST) Soccer Stories: Hillsborough (2hrs) - Apr 22 PREMIERE: 9PM ESPN 25 years ago, on April 15, 1989, the worst disaster in British football history occurred in an overcrowded stadium in Sheffield, England, 150 miles north of London. 3,000 fans flocked through the turnstiles to head to the area reserved for standing, despite a capacity of less than half of that. The result was a “human crush” that killed 96 people and injured 766.Many have labelled this the worst sporting disaster in history. Beginning on the fateful day in 1989, "Hillsborough" explores what happened and why. It offers a detailed examination not only of the horrific loss of life, but also of key developments in the preceding years, months, weeks, days, hours and minutes leading to the disaster. Soccer Stories: Garrincha: Crippled Angel – Apr 29 PREMIERE: 8:30PM ESPN In Brazil, Pelé is “The King.” But his teammate, Mané Garrincha, is also remembered as the one of the best soccer players of all time. In a country where the sport grants its protagonists such royal deference, Garrincha is the jester– an entertainer who amused crowds and turned soccer into an irresistible spectacle, all while helping Brazil capture two World Cups. This, despite his legs being so bent that early in his career doctors deemed him unfit to play professionally. Match after match, he proved them wrong. But his unpredictable moves were of little assistance after his playing career came to an end. Abandoned by the soccer establishment, Garrincha died a victim of alcoholism in 1983. Soccer Stories: Barbosa-The Man Who Made all of Brazil Cry – April 29 PREMIERE: 10PM ESPN In 1949, Goalkeeper Moacir Barbosa and his Brazilian national team are on top of the world, having just won the South American championship by a score of 7-0. Barbosa is one of the heroes, widely considered one of the world’s best goalkeepers. But everything changed during the 1950 World Cup, played for the first time in Brazil. Before the final game against neighbor and rival Uruguay, the Brazilian Football Confederation was so confident of victory it had made 22 gold medals with the names of their players imprinted on them. With 11 minutes left, Uruguay shocked the estimated crowd of 200,000 at Marcana and scored the winning goal – a goal that is still considered to be the greatest sporting tragedy to befall Brazil. The blame was mostly pinned on Barbosa for being out of position on his goal line, tantamount to Bill Buckner letting a baseball roll between his legs. The country went into a deep mourning, fans committed suicide, and Barbosa was nationally blacklisted. Soccer Stories: Ceasefire Massacre – May 10 PREMIERE: 7PM ESPN New Jersey, June 18, 1994. Giants Stadium is awash with green as Irish soccer fans arrive to watch Ireland’s opening World Cup match against the mighty Italy. The sense of optimism is infectious. The Celtic Tiger is in its infancy, Bill Clinton’s decision to grant a visa to Irish Republican leader Gerry Adams has propelled the peace process forward and Jack Charlton’s team are walking onto the pitch before 75,000 fervent spectators made up of Irish, Italians and Americans of Irish and Italian decent. Amongst the fans is Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds who is sitting with members of an American group who’ve been working behind-the-scenes to end the conflict in Northern Ireland. The electrifying mood is shared by the supporters watching the match in the Heights Bar, a tiny pub in the Northern Irish village of Loughin Island, 24 miles south of Belfast. At the half, the Irish are remarkably ahead 1-0. Shortly after the second half begins, two masked gunmen belonging to a Protestant terror group burst into the Heights Bar. Thirty rounds are fired and six innocent men watching a soccer match were killed. Soccer Stories: The Opposition – May 10 PREMIERE: 7:30PM ESPN In the wake of the 1973 military coup in Chile, American-backed dictator Augusto Pinochet transformed Santiago’s National Stadium into a concentration camp where political opponents were tortured and assassinated. Only months later, that same stadium was scheduled to host a decisive World Cup qualifier between Chile and the Soviet Union. Despite protests, FIFA’s own investigation, and the Soviet’s eventual boycott, the Chilean team still played the game as planned, qualifying for the 1974 World Cup on a goal scored against no one. Soccer Stories: Mysteries of the Jules Rimlet Trophy – May 17 PREMIERE: 7PM ESPN Inspired by Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to the nation that won FIFA’s World Cup and was among the most coveted prizes in all of sports. It is also the sports prize shrouded in the most intrigue – with the whereabouts of the original trophy unknown to this day. This film focuses on the great prize’s first brush with crime – a Nazi plan to steal the Rimet Trophy from Italy during World War II. The story unfolds like a great caper film, where our hero, Ottorino Barassi, a mild-mannered Italian soccer official, attempts to protect a valued treasure. Soccer Stories: Maradona ’86 – May 17 PREMIERE: 7:30PM ESPN In the 1986 World Cup, Maradona redefined what is possible for one man to accomplish on the soccer field. Already a figure of notoriety, but with one failed World Cup behind him, Maradona took possession of the international stage in Mexico, the spotlight rarely drifting from him as he wrote an indelible history with his feet and, of course, with a hand from God. Delivered with passion and intelligence, Maradona ‘86 is a fascinating, evocative and operatic portrait of Maradona, revealing his inner complexity and contradictions while basking in the joy and passion of his performance on the pitch as he wrote his name on soccer history forever. Soccer Stories: White, Blue and White - July 8 PREMIERE: 9PM ESPN Although a large number of Argentinian players have found football success around the world, few have made a name for themselves in England's top league. One notable exception is Ossie Ardiles. Fresh off Argentina's victory in the 1978 World Cup, Ardiles and his compatriot, Ricky Villa, joined Tottenham Hotspur later that year, when the notion of overseas players was still new to the English league. Helping lead Spurs to victory in the 1981 FA Cup, the Argentinian stars became cult heroes in England. But on April 2, 1982, everything radically changed as Argentinian troops descended on the British-ruled Falkland Islands, asserting rightful sovereignty. A conflicted Ardiles returned to Buenos Aires two days later, his bright future with Spurs suddenly in question.
Also, ESPN just announced that the team behind 30 for 30 has produced a series focused on the US Men's National Team called "Inside: U.S. Soccer’s March to Brazil". It's a six episode documentary that starts airing at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN on May 13th (with reruns on various other Disney stations).
The Soccer Stories docs are airing all weekend 5/17 & 5/18 on ESPN Classic. Also The 2 Escobars will be shown
ESPN is expanding its documentary series on the United States Mens National Team an extra 30 minutes. The documentary, “Inside: U.S. Soccer’s March to Brazil,” focusing on the United States Mens National Soccer Team as they prepare for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, was originally scheduled as a six-part series. The already scheduled Episode #3 has been moved up to start at 7:00 pm ET on Thursday, May 29, immediately followed by the presentation of the new Episode #4 at 7:30 pm ET. The series, produced by Jonathan Hock and Roger Bennett, provides a never-before-seen perspective from inside the training camp of the Mens National Team as the group prepares for the most anticipated sporting event in the world. In this week’s back-to-back episodes, ESPN Films crew captured some of the players’ reactions to the final 23-man roster for Brazil 2014. All episodes re-air multiple times on ESPN2 and will also air on ESPN Deportes. ABC will broadcast some episodes following their ESPN premieres. Thursday, May 29 - 7:00 pm ET-7:30 pm ET - Episode #3 - Premiere - ESPN/WatchESPN.com Thursday, May 29 - 7:30 pm ET-8:00 pm ET - Episode #4 - Premiere - ESPN/WatchESPN.com Tuesday, June 3 - 7:30 pm ET-8:00 pm ET - Episode #5 - Premiere - ESPN/WatchESPN.com Tuesday, June 10 - 8:30 pm ET-9:30 pm ET - Episode #6 - Premiere - ESPN/WatchESPN.com Tuesday, June 11 - 9:30 pm ET-10:00 pm ET - Episode #7 - Premiere - LIVE - ESPN2/WatchESPN.com http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-r...s-national-team-fan-appreciation-day-special/ LB - The first four episodes will air back to back to back to back - twice - Sunday, June 1 - ESPN2. 1:00 am ET-3:30 am ET and 11:00 am ET-1:30 pm ET. The second airing will serve as a lead-in to the United States Pre-World Cup Friendly Match with Turkey which will be taking place at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
The Maradona doc was the best of what I have watched so far. I still have a couple left on my DVR. But it's hard to go wrong when using Eduardo Galeano's work to move the story along.
I had these all on my DVR, but they just put them up on Netflix. May as well save space on the DVR and not have to deal with skipping commercials all in one go.
Tuesday, June 3 - 7:30 pm ET-8:00 pm ET - Episode #5 - Premiere - ESPN/WatchESPN.com If you miss Episode #5 at the above time ^ - it will be replayed an hour later - 9:00 pm ET-9:30 pm ET - ESPN2. This will serve as a lead-in to the Mexico vs Bosnia-Herzegovina Pre-World Cup Friendly Match thats being played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Note: There is a chance the WNBA game - Los Angeles-Atlanta - that is on ESPN2 - 7:00 pm ET-9:00 pm ET - may run past 9:00 pm ET. If this happens, Episode #5 will be shortened so ESPN2 can get to coverage of the Mexico vs Bosnia-Herzegovina match right at 9:30 pm ET.) Episode #5 will also be repeated at least two more times this week - Wednesday, June 4 - 4:00 am ET-4:30 am ET - ESPN2 and Saturday, June 7 - 1:30 pm ET-2:00 pm ET - ABC. All five episodes will be shown back to back to back to back to back on Saturday, June 7 - 9:00 am ET-12:00 pm ET - ESPN2. Its part of a 5 hour marathon of soccer programs on the channel that morning as "30 for 30-The Two Escobars" - is being shown before it - 7:00 am ET-9:00 am ET.
Inside United States Soccer-March To Brazil - Wraps Up This Week. The final two episodes in ESPN Films’ documentary series - Inside United States Soccer - March to Brazil - will air this week with Episode #7 - Tuesday, June 10 - 8:30 pm ET - ESPN and Episode #8 - Wednesday, June 11 - 9:30 pm ET - ESPN2. The documentary series which focuses on the United States Mens National Soccer Team as they prepare for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil provides a never-before-seen perspective from inside the training camp of the USMNT. Tuesdays 60-minute episode will look at Jurgen Klinsmann and his players preparing for their final friendly match against Nigeria as their minds are focused on success or failure and all that awaits them in Brazil. Wednesdays 30-minute episode, which will be a LIVE studio show from Brazil and will serve as series finale. If you missed any of the episodes - they will all be repeated in a marathon this Wednesday, June 11 - 5:30 pm ET-9:30 pm ET - ESPN2. It will serve as a lead-in to the LIVE series finale - 9:30 pm ET-10:00 pm ET - ESPN2.