Andrés Cantor
| Andrés Cantor | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 22, 1962 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Occupation | Television journalist, television personality, author, sports anchor |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Website | www.fdpradio.com |
Andrés Cantor (born December 22, 1962) is an Argentine sportscaster and pundit who works in the United States providing Spanish-language commentary and analysis in sports. Cantor is well-known among English-speakers for his narration of football (soccer) matches and shouting "Goal!" when one is scored. Outside of football commentary he covers other sports as well.
Cantor was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He moved with his family to the Southern California area when he was a teen, where he attended San Marino High School and then graduated from the University of Southern California. Andrés is of Jewish descent. His mother was born in Romania and migrated to Argentina at the age of 13, while his father was born in Argentina. His paternal grandparents were from Poland, and fled during the Nazi occupation. His favorite team is Boca Juniors from Argentina.
Cantor is famous for his signature bellowing of "Gooooooool!" after a score in football. This practice started in Brazil in the 1940s, and since then has become almost universal throughout Latin America. It stemmed from the desire to let families and friends who have stepped away from a game know that a goal has been scored. However, due to translation and cultural dissonance issues, it was largely absent from the lexicon of British play-by-play commentators. Cantor was the first to introduce this climactic scoring call to a U.S. audience while working at Univision, making him popular with English-speaking viewers. He first used it at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, but it became especially popular during the 1994 World Cup, which was held in the United States. It became so popular, in fact, that Cantor made guest appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman during the '94 and '98 tournaments, and after the tournament was over. He was broadcasting from Paris for the Late Show during the 1998 World Cup. The call is now being sold as a ringtone on Telemundo's website. He says that Diego Maradona's goal at the 1986 World Cup, in which he ran from midfield past five English defenders to score, brought tears to his eyes (Cantor was working at the game). That goal became known as the "Goal of the Century," and took place after the infamous "Hand of God" goal. The yell was also used in a popular Volkswagen commercial that aired in the U.S. around the time of the 1998 World Cup.
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