FIFA U-20 World Cup TV Information for USA Viewers
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by user SSreporters
For those besides me and the 7 of us Americans who are interested in FIFA's second largest tournament to be held in Canada this weekend, here's some important info.
1. If you live in any state that borders Canada, the chances are your cable company provides the Canadian Broadcasting Coroporation (CBC). The CBC will air 20 out of the 52 games on the main network, 21 on CBC Country Canada (which is pretty much CBC 2), and 11 on GOLTV. The ones on Country Canada will be shown only to Canadian viewers, and I believe GOLTV will air their games in the US as well. GOLTV is a digital cable channel, so hope that your cable company offers it.
2. ESPN U will also air like 10-15 games, but after last year's disaster of a World Cup with ESPN, I'm not sure anyone is coming back.
3. If you don't have the CBC or ESPN U, that's okay! CBC Sports will have all 52 games streaming on the internet, both live and taped. The link to the FIFA U-20 site is here. Also, many Spanish channels like Univision will air games as well.
4. The announcers for the World Cup last year on ESPN were brutal, so it's important to know your CBC announcers. The main announcing team will consist of Nigel Reed and Craig Forrest, while the second-tier team will have Steve Armitage and Paul Dolan.
5. Reed is a British commentator who is the main voice for Toronto FC, and is like a god to many fans of TFC. Armitage has announced soccer for over 2 decades, and is considered one of the better Canadian soccer announcers. Forrest is a no-nonsense guy who will call it like he sees it, and I've never heard of Paul Dolan.
6. Unfortunately, CBC decided to use Stupid Sideline reporters for their games, consisting of Fox Soccer Channel's Mitch Peacock (how did he get that last name?), and Brenda Irving. The good news is that "human interest" stories aren't the main attraction for the CBC since soccer has come back to them.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section.
Here's a sample of Nigel Reed and Craig Forrest below.
