You don’t have to go full Landon Donovan to appreciate how well Mexico has played so far this World Cup. After knocking off Germany in their first game, they put on another commanding performance against South Korea today.
And, thanks to Telemundo, Andres Cantor was on the call, which is a good thing for everyone. For example, here’s how he called a handball against South Korea that led to a penalty for Mexico:
#MundialTelemundo Así fue la pena máxima a favor de @miseleccionmx por mano dentro del área de Jang pic.twitter.com/UrcFIoxFWj
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 23, 2018
“Penal penal penal penal penal penal penal penal penal penal penal!”
Andres Cantor calls fouls in a way that Joey Crawford probably always wanted to, but it’s delightful. Here’s how he called Carlos Vela’s penalty effort, too:
#MundialTelemundo Así abrió el marcador @11carlosV y puso en ventaja a #MEX sobre #KOR pic.twitter.com/2WsINUiSSa
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 23, 2018
Based on some crude timing, that was an 11-second “GOOOL!” call with a follow up 24-second version. Not bad!
Mexico’s lead remained 1-0 into the second half, when they countered in a fashion very similar to their goal against Germany, with Chicharito finishing very well:
#MundialTelemundo ¡ @ch14_ define un gran contragolpe y aumenta la ventaja de #MEX 2-0 sobre #KOR pic.twitter.com/8FGJVZCYkm
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 23, 2018
That one came in at 14 seconds on the initial call, and 20 seconds on the follow-up. The match wasn’t over, obviously, and South Korea did manage to keep things very interesting, thanks to this fantastic strike from Tottenham’s Son Heung-min:
#MundialTelemundo Heung-Min Son marca un golazo para #KOR pero no fue suficiente para evitar la derrota ante #MEX pic.twitter.com/0nxnN1CW4U
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 23, 2018
A worthy time for Cantor to break out “golazo”, for sure. But that was much too late in the match for South Korea, and Mexico held on for a very deserved 2-1 victory. That puts them on top of Group F with six points, which is normally more than enough to advance. But if Germany beats Sweden today, that would mean three teams (Mexico, Germany, and Sweden) could all theoretically end up with six points, and Mexico could still technically need a result in the final group match against Sweden to win the group, and need to avoid a goal-differential turnaround to advance at all, if they lost.
South Korea, meanwhile, isn’t technically out of it either; they need Germany to beat Sweden today, preferably by one goal, and then they need to pull off a big upset win over the Germans while Mexico handles Sweden. It’s not likely, of course, but any chance is better than no chance at all.
In the end, though, viewers are better off if Mexico advances, not because of anything to do with Landon Donovan’s banking campaign, but because Andres Cantor calling Mexico at the World Cup is something worth having more of.
