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Andrés Cantor Called Argentina’s World Cup Win Like Only He Could

5:09 PM EST on December 18, 2022

For many people, Andrés Cantor is the voice of soccer in the United States. The now 59-year-old commentator became world famous with his iconic "goooooooooooool" call that seemed to go on for days whenever a goal was scored. If there is one bit of commentary that even non-soccer fans know, it is the sound of Cantor's lungs being pushed to their maximum capacity. It is no surprise, then, that Telemundo made sure to have Cantor calling the marquee matchups at the 2022 World Cup, up to and including the final between Argentina and France.

The other thing to note about Cantor is that he is from Argentina: He was born in Buenos Aires and moved to California when he was a teenager. Cantor is a professional through and through, but his love for his home country still popped up in his commentary, particularly at this World Cup with so much at stake for the Albiceleste. (That love did not stop him from ripping off two incredible "gol" calls for Kylian Mbappé's back-to-back scores in the final; like I said, he's a professional.)

With that in mind, there is no one more suited to calling Argentina's first World Cup victory in 36 years than Cantor. He did not disappoint:

There are certainly times for journalists and commentators to set aside their biases. But there also are times to simply be a human being, someone who lives and breathes for this sport. Cantor knows how to do the former and, luckily for anyone who was tuned into Telemundo's broadcast, he also knows the moments to deploy the latter. If there is such a moment, it was Gonzalo Montiel's game-winning penalty kick for Argentina, and the POV angle of Cantor's call shows the emotion wasn't just for show.

Argentina will always have the 2022 World Cup trophy, and Cantor will always have a tearful and overjoyed "Argentina, campeón del mundo" in his legacy. What a wonderful moment of vulnerability, from a man whose voice so rarely quivers.

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