Soccer fans in the United States often lament the lack of attention that the sport gets in the mainstream media and specifically the super channel/brand/entity/scary Mr. Big Guy, ESPN. Fair or not, the self-dubbed Worldwide Leader in Sports is often criticized for ignoring the world's most popular sport. Maybe that is changing though. A day after the channel's flagship show, SportsCenter, showed U.S. team highlights and had actual analysis, they had in-depth analysis of the Mexico national team.
What?!? Was That Mexico Gold Cup Talk On SportsCenter?
Say what?!? It's true. On Monday evening, SportsCenter brought on ESPN Deportes' John Sutcliffe to discuss the Mexican team. It started with a mention od the five suspended players and how the team adjusted with some of their key players out. Sutcliffe didn't just gloss over things though. He went in-depth, discussing the struggles of Rafa Marquez and how natural defensive midfielders were filling in at fullback. The next topic was Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez, which is to be expected, then he discussed Mexico's next opponent, Honduras, and how the two teams match up.
This is a long time coming for ESPN. They may be broadcasting to the United States, but the Mexican team is the most popular team in the country. That’s not just looking at Spanish speakers either. There is a huge number of Mexican fans who speak English as a first language and are continually underserved by English language Mexican soccer coverage. It looks like ESPN is tapping into that and it will undoubtedly pay off. Plus, any additional soccer coverage on ESPN and SportsCenter is a nice bonus for any footy fans in the U.S.
For those of you underserved by English language Mexican soccer coverage check out FMF State of Mind for everything on the Mexico team and the Mexican Primera.
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