There’s a big difference between the CONCACAF championship Gold Cup and the FIFA World Cup, and mixing up the two led to a lot of criticism for KCRA (the NBC affiliate in Sacramento) sports director Del Rodgers. Rodgers (who’s been at KCRA since 1997 following a NFL career with the Packers and 49ers) did a segment Monday on the local news showing highlights of the U.S.’ 1-0 Gold Cup final win Sunday, and correctly identified it as such at first, but then later mixed it up with the World Cup:
And we wonder why we can’t get an MLS team here in Sacramento 🤦🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/lZxAFPfmpM
— Joe Cook (@GiantsKings9ers) August 3, 2021
That clip also has some interesting highlight commentary from Rodgers, including him incorrectly identifying a free kick (“Kellyn Acosta is out of bounds about to kick it in”; free kicks come from the field of play, not from out of bounds). But it’s the part at the end that really stands out, with him saying “USA wins the 2021 Soccer World Cup” and “They don’t make it to the Olympics, but they make the World Cup Final and they win the darn thing.” That got some reaction from many in the soccer world, including former U.S. national team player Herculez Gomez and Roger Bennett of Men in Blazers:
Local broadcaster confuses Gold Cup Final with "World Cup Final." I laughed first time I watched, but have now spent an hour re-listening to him saying "they make the World Cup Final and they win the darn thing" on loop with eyes closed, playing Make-Believe and it Fantastic 🇺🇸 https://t.co/D02RpPcUz1
— roger bennett (@rogbennett) August 3, 2021
Yeah, a CONCACAF-only competition is not quite the 2021 Soccer World Cup.
[Joe Cook on Twitter]
