Not sure exactly what's going on, but I'm getting FoxSoccer plus on Uverse right now. It has always been a special channel that you had to pay for separately. Not sure if they've added it to the package programming or its a free promo for the weekend or something.
Too bad it's not Premier League action on FS+ today. What are they going to do next season? Any word yet?
The most popular theory is the FSC is going away and the channel will become FX2. Any soccer rights they own, which is pretty much just the Champion's League, will go to Fox Sports, which will be a new nationwide sports channel. That's all just internet rumors at this point though.
If you can watch the Copa Libertadores, it's worth noting that Tijuana, which has some US players, traveled to Bogota last night and beat Milonarios. That's a pretty big deal. Toluca didn't fare as well at home against Nacional, but Nacional is one of the two big clubs in Uruguay.
It was a good match. Edgar Castillo is a beast. I can't believe that most USA supporters don't like him. I'll never understand USA supporters.
They would rather overhype the players in Europe like Chandler and then some were saying bring in Lichaj (probably misspelled) when he isn't even starting or making the bench (at least in the last match don't know as of late). Edit: If anything try should be looking at the Dynamo for defensive talent .
There were a few former/current MLS players on Milonarios' team as well. Perhaps the most number of American and MLS-capped guys ever in a Libertadores match?
La Liga MX starter playing in Libertadores >>> someone getting spot starts/sitting on a bench in a Viking league
I actually like him over Lichaj. We just don’t need him starting now that we have a LB. He’s a great back-up and I’d like to see him get some play off the bench on the left wing if we really need a spark.
Millionarios are the cafetero defending champions as well. So it was a clash of Mexican and Colombian league champions. Why U.S. fans don't follow football from our own hemisphere more often I will never understand.
language and the (soccer) miseducation of fans that US soccer has more in common with the English game than with other countries in their own qualifying region*. *see Australia
Frankly Rey, I think language has more to do with it than anything else. The reason so many folks turn into Euro snobs is a result not a cause of what they watch, in English broadcast.
Oh absolutely. Miseducation that if it is English and football it is the end all. To which I tell these dudes, well the English invented it and the Brazilians perfected it. So from our side of the planet comes the best the game offers. Libertadores action is the culmination of such best coming together under brilliant night time atmospheres.
One can always hit the mute button. Or as well mute and hit play list. Live Libertadores action and one's favorite music, easy.
I am not going to argue what folks CAN do But when soccer fans in this country started watching the game on TV, they will watch it in a language they speak. And that is still English in most of the country. That has more to do with why so many grew up watching English football, or even other Euro football with English announcers over anything in this region. * Also, consider up until about 10 years ago, many of the Spanish channels showing regional football were part of special packages in most of this country. People didn't even have access to other leagues from the region.
I started watching soccer matches on TV in a language I barely spoke. Perhaps I'm just a soccer junkie like that, the old hoops gym rat in me. I don't need announcers to talk over a great game.
Come on You know that is not normal Beside that, I didn't even get any Spanish speaking games when I was growing up.
At one point in time during the mid 90's, ESPN had a Mexican league highlights show hosted by Mike Hill and Tommy Smythe. That was quality programming.
Shame ESPN is now the TMZ of sports. I still lol'ed when they tried to show the liguilla highlights and called Club America, Team USA I was like smh.
Language certainly matters for people just starting out as soccer fans. But even English-language channels like FSC (and its predecessor) carried games in English from leagues in Brazil, Argentina, Germany, etc. over the years. Yet, if you listened to their own shows and announcers, you'd think that England was the only place soccer is played. Some of it may have been deliberate. I understand the market value of the EPL. But they also regularly made uninformed comments about soccer that, say, reading two or three issues of World Soccer magazine (it's even published in England!) would quickly lead you to realize otherwise. There's been a long-standing ignorance, whether deliberate or accidental, in the US soccer media about the game beyond England.
It's probably the same people who say Kljestan and Jozy shouldn't get called up 'cause they're worthless, even though both are having fantastic years and arguably two of the best out of YAs. Its not either players' fault that Ze German either plays them out of position or never gives them the ball, respectively.
Fond memories I first started watching soccer on American tv through PBS. 1979-1981 'Soccer made in Germany' every Saturday morning. The english announcer's name was the famous Toby Charles. We made fun of some of his expressions and style but he got me really interested in the game that was on that day. Besides it was the only soccer on TV at all. Horst Hrubesch? Gerd Muller Ronnie Elstrom and Kevin Keegan were all stars in the league at that time. Fox Sports Espanol - 1998-2001 Argentinian Leauges games on Sunday. Max Bretos and some other Argentine would do the color in english but sometimes it was in Spanish by some guy in Argentina. The announcer in Argentina was great - real dramatic though. He spoke spanish with an Italian accent. I got to watch Juan Pablo Angel, Palermo, Riquelme? Veron? etc all in their prime. Boca versus River Plate all the time. Every time Palermo would miss the announcer would yell / groan his name over and over for like 45 seconds. Funny stuff but it made it fun to watch. I like watching MSL games too but they speak too fast for me to catch much. It's funny when they repeat english phrases in spanish like 'vamos a ver' etc. It was funny but I always had a soft spot for this real short, stumpy player with grey hair player they called 'little pony' - he knocked around on several teams including Santos - he wasn't Mexican though. BTW USMT U-20s play today and Tottenham (Clint Dempsey / Brad Freidel) vs Lyon tomorrow all on TV.