On Sunday, Cape Verde scored one of the best and most meaningful goals of the 2026 World Cup. In the 21st minute of their group-stage game against historic powerhouse Uruguay, just the second World Cup game in the tiny archipelagic nation's history, midfielder Kevin Pina stood over a free kick from about 35 yards out. Having drawn 0-0 with Spain in their first World Cup game, the Blue Sharks were looking for their first-ever World Cup goal. Pina lined up his shot, blasted it through Uruguay's wall, and bounced it past the keeper into the bottom corner. See if you can sense any of that significance in Fox play-by-play man JP Dellacamera's call:
"Whoa"? That's all you've got for us, JP? I'm sorry, did you just witness an incredible free-kick goal loaded with historical meaning or did you take a sip of coffee that was a little stronger than you anticipated? "Pina and others celebrate." Yes, thank you man, I can see that.
There's always something to complain about when it comes to play-by-play announcers, but Dellacamera's muted reaction to Pina's goal feels representative of Fox's overall lack of qualification for broadcasting this tournament. Soccer games are all about the building and release of tension, and a good announcer needs to understand how to ride the rhythm of that process. By the time Pina was standing over that ball, a good announcer would have been anticipating the rush of delirium that a goal from such an unlikely position would have brought to the players, the stadium, and the people of Cape Verde. Not only had this team stood tall against Spain in their first game, they had been giving Uruguay the business through the first 20 minutes of their second. A goal there—a historic goal scored from an impossible distance!—would establish Cape Verde as the darlings of the tournament so far.
And Dellacamera freakin' blew it. Not only that, he continued to blow it over the course of the next 70-plus minutes as he meekly honked and brayed while one of the best games of the tournament unfolded before him. Uruguay struck back quickly, scoring two goals just before halftime and positioning themselves to run away with it in the second half. However! In the 61st minute, Cape Verde's press forced a mistake out of Uruguay's back line, and Hélio Varela equalized with a tricky finish into an empty net:
It was an incredible, shocking goal that left Dellacamera unable to successfully push words out of his mouth (did he say, "Cape Verde start it"?), and then after a long silence he could only muster "It's wild in Miami." Can you imagine Peter Drury letting that moment pass without uncorking one of his signature poetic ad libs? ("CAPE VERDE ... DEBUTANTES ON THE WORLD'S GRANDEST STAGE ... OH HOW THEY ARE STEALING THE SHOW")
Dellacamera's inability to rise to the occasion is made even worse by the fact that this wasn't your typical instance of a tournament minnow playing a much better team to a surprise draw. It's not like Cape Verde was sitting in a defensive shell all night and hoping to just scratch out some scruffy goals; they were taking it to Uruguay as often as they could. I lost count of how many times I saw a Cape Verde attacker take a touch and turn his defender to run into space or draw a foul. Direct balls to the forwards were more often than not met with deft touches and flicks that initiated dangerous counter attacks, and nobody on Cape Verde's forward line was ever afraid to take the ball and run at a defender. This was the kind of game that would push even a soccer agnostic to the edge of their seat, because it was impossible not to be moved by Cape Verde's bravery. And somehow the guy whose job it is to communicate the meaning and drama of the moment, to take us from the edges of our seats to jumping up and down in the living room, decided to no-sell us like he was calling a mid-season Philadelphia Union game.
Sunday wasn't even Dellacamera's first disastrous performance of this tournament. He was also tasked with calling Ghana's stoppage-time winner over Panama, which was only exciting enough to bring "It's a goal" out of him:
Enough with this guy! Back to MLS with him, please.
