Argentina won the World Cup final against France on Sunday, and it’s no exaggeration to say the world stopped— at least for around two hours. The country’s first World Cup win since 1986, 2022’s shot at the trophy was an uphill battle. The final match was arduous as it went into penalty kicks, making Argentina’s final win even more meaningful. Still, few got as emotional about that last penalty kick “GOL!” than iconic Argentine sports announcer Andrés Cantor.

The soccer announcer’s emotional reaction to the win

Cantor went viral for his epic reaction to the last, game-winning penalty kick goal scored by Argentine player Gonzalo Montiel. While the sports announcer started narrating the World Cup games in 1990, no other “GOL!” was ever as emotional as this one.

The video shows the 59-year-old screaming his trademark “GOOOL!” after Montiel scored his penalty kick. He then says “Argentina is the champion” through noticeable tears. He continues, “Argentina, champion of the world,” repeating it over and over as he cries.

At that point, the world-famous futból personality talks directly to the players. He says, “You guys did it, the players. You won the sky.” Just one look at Cantor’s video might just bring tears to your eyes, too— or goosebumps.

Cantor’s epic life story — from immigrating to the U.S. to being featured on “The Simpsons”

Andrés Cantor is undoubtedly a legend when it comes to soccer. As reported by Vanity Fair, he was born in Buenos Aires in 1962 to a Romanian mother and a Polish-Jewish father who fled Nazi occupation. Cantor moved to California as a teenager, but he never let go of his love of futból — especially his favorite team Boca Juniors.

As per an interview with InfoBae, the Telemundo broadcaster started out in the U.S. — bringing a certain passion to sports announcing that the country hadn’t experienced before. “I was very lucky. I was in the right place at the right time. Our way of speaking got us attention… Our excitement was contagious, especially when shouting goals.”

At that point, Cantor’s iconic soccer narration style — and his trademark “GOL” — became a worldwide sensation. He was featured on David Letterman (a must-watch!) and even on “The Simpsons.”

His road to success had bumps along the way

While his future was all about success, his story as an immigrant in the U.S. wasn’t so easy. Moving to Sacramento at 15 years old from Argentina, he explains: “I had my friends, soccer… when I got to the U.S., everything was missing.” He even remembers “not understanding” any English.

An unlikely supermarket encounter got him an opportunity to work in distributing magazines, which he did for 15 years. That led him to eventually write his first article for Argentine sports magazine, El Gráfico. He studied journalism at the University of Southern California, and “never thought” that could lead to audiovisual reporting instead.

It’s “tough” to stay unbiased when it comes to his country

While he has worked as arguably the most legendary soccer announcer for decades, he told Sports Lens it’s still hard to stay unbiased — at least where Argentina is concerned. He said, “It is tough and I have always been very open about it. When Argentina or Boca Juniors, my team, plays, I have a different feeling inside.” He continued, saying he would be a “hypocrite” if he didn’t admit the truth. Of course, his video announcing Argentina’s World Cup win cements it!

Andrés Cantor sat down with the TODAY show to talk about his experience announcing the Copa Mundial win. Working at the World Cup for over three decades, he explained, “me saying ‘Argentina champion of the world’ was 36 and a half years in the making.”

The sports announcer also said “it was a roller coaster of emotion,” and although he tried to stay “calm, cool and collected,” he was “overwhelmed.” We wouldn’t have it any other way!

Tags:

Share this Story