FOX SPORTS ANNOUNCES FIVE BROADCAST TEAMS
FOR FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2015
Announcers & Analysts Bring Wide-Ranging On-Air & On-Field Experience
To World's Biggest Women's Sports Event
Dellacamera, Whitehill & DiCicco Draw U.S. Matches in Group Stage
New York - FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2015 is set to begin in exactly 24 days, and today FOX Sports unveils the five gifted broadcast teams set to call game action during the network's unprecedented coverage from Canada beginning Saturday, June 6. The announcement was made today by David Neal, FIFA Women's World Cup on FOX Executive Producer.
The broadcast teams FOX Sports has developed to call the Women's World Cup mix many of the top play-by-play voices in American soccer with former standout players on the international stage. Below are the teams listed in alphabetical order by play-by-play announcer (left):
Glenn Davis & Christine Latham
JP Dellacamera, Cat Whitehill & Tony DiCicco
Jenn Hildreth & Kyndra de St. Aubin
Justin Kutcher & Aly Wagner
John Strong & Danielle Slaton
In addition, Angela Hucles, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who helped the U.S. Women's National Team to a pair of third-place Women's World Cup finishes as a midfielder, is also assigned to analyze games in the tournament.
Together the play-by-play announcers have combined broadcasting experience spanning 15 World Cups and four Olympic Games, and boast innumerable seasons calling international and domestic club soccer competitions and big-game assignments. The game analysts, former international soccer stars and the winningest coach in U.S. international history, have extensive on-field experience, playing or coaching at the highest level. The group has a combined for six Olympic Gold medals, eight World Cup appearances, one World Cup championship, plus a host of domestic club soccer victories.
"Our dynamic group of game commentators brings world-class knowledge and diverse experience to our coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup," Neal said. "Each has their own unique style and perspective on the game and as a group they are ideally suited to our unprecedented coverage of the world's most important women's sports event."
The U.S. Women's National Team has three matches scheduled in the Group Stage, and Dellacamera, Whitehill and DiCicco call each one. The first is Monday, June 8 in Winnipeg against Australia (FOX Sports 1, 7:30 PM ET); followed by Friday June 12 versus Sweden, also in Winnipeg (FOX, 8:00 PM ET); and Tuesday, June 16 against Nigeria in Vancouver (FOX, 8:00 PM ET. Remaining Group Stage network and broadcast team assignments are coming at a later date. Dellacamera, Whitehill and DiCicco called last weekend's 3-0 U.S. Send-Off Series victory over Ireland, and also call this Sunday's (3/17) match in Los Angeles against Mexico. Pre-match coverage begins at 9:00 PM ET with action beginning at 9:30 PM ET
FOX Sports recently announced the studio analysts headlining the network's pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the Women's World Cup, as well as live hits into FOX Sports 1 signature programs AMERICA'S PREGAME and FOX SPORTS LIVE. Alexi Lalas, Heather Mitts, Eric Wynalda, Leslie Osborne, Angela Hucles, Kelly Smith, Ariane Hingst, Monica Gonzalez, Christine Latham and Dr. Joe Machnik are joined by hosts Kate Abdo and Rob Stone from a brand-new state-of-the-art studio in Vancouver beginning Thursday, June 4.
Thumbnail biographies on each play-by-play announcer and analyst, in alphabetical order by play-by-play announcer, are below:
Glenn Davis is a seasoned soccer announcer, having called FIFA World Cup matches on television and radio for ESPN; the Olympics for NBC; and MLS matches on several national and local channels. Davis has lent his voice to FOX Sports' coverage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), CONCACAF Champions League and U.S. Men's Youth National Teams.
Christine Latham played with the Canadian Women's National Team for over a decade, from 1995 to 2006, as a striker, amassing 15 goals in 49 games. She scored a team-high three goals in six games during the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, helping Canada to the semifinals - the country's best World Cup showing. Latham has also called 2014 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament games for FOX Sports.
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JP Dellacamera, one of the pioneering voices of American soccer, brings decades of experience covering 12 FIFA World Cups (eight men's, four women's). With FOX Sports, he calls matches for Major League Soccer, CONCACAF Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.
Cat Whitehill was a member of the USWNT for a decade, from 2000 to 2010, and played in the 2003 and 2007 FIFA Women's World Cups and 2004 Olympics, where she helped Team USA to a gold medal. She has called previous USWNT games for FOX Sports, including the 2014 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament and served as an analyst for ESPN's coverage of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany.
Tony DiCicco is a former USWNT head coach and guided the squad to a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta and the squad's last Women's World Cup title in 1999. DiCicco's 103 wins with the USWNT is the highest total is U.S. Soccer history. DiCicco has called the 2000 Olympics for NBC and the 2003, 2007 and 2011 Women's World Cups for ESPN before calling several USWNT games for FOX Sports, including the 2014 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament.
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Jenn Hildreth is a former three-sport collegiate athlete with an extensive background in soccer. She has served as a play-by-play and color analyst on college and professional soccer, including Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) Sundays on FOX Soccer Channel. She has also covered a variety of other sports, including MLB and college football.
Kyndra de St. Aubin has been part of FOX Sports' soccer coverage since 2001, having called International Champions Cup games on FOX Sports 1 in 2013 and 2014. She also called Women's Professional Soccer League and National Women's Soccer League games for FOX Sports and has worked for the Pac-12 Networks. A standout collegiate soccer star at Minnesota, de St. Aubin has also called games for the Big Ten Network.
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Justin Kutcher calls play-by-play across a variety of FOX Sports properties, sitting behind the microphone for college football, college basketball, Major League Baseball, NFL and soccer, including USWNT matches at the 2014 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament.
Aly Wagner is a former USWNT midfielder, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist. As a national player of the year at Santa Clara, Wagner led her team to a national championship, scoring the game-winner in the title game. The first selection in the 2003 Women's United Soccer Association Draft, Wagner played several years professionally.
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John Strong joined FOX Sports in January to call play-by-play for the network's coverage of MLS, FIFA Women's World Cup and other national soccer events. Strong regularly contributes to FOX Sports' UEFA Europa League, CONCACAF Champions League, CONCACAF Women's World Cup qualifying and has called various U.S. Soccer friendlies.
Danielle Slaton played for five years on the USWNT, owning a third-place finish at the 2003 Women's World Cup and a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She also played professionally in the U.S. and in France and has coached at the high school and collegiate levels. The 2001 NCAA Scholar Athlete of the Year, Slaton was a three-time All-American at Santa Clara and helped the Broncos to the 2001 NCAA Championship. She has called soccer previously for the Big Ten Network and FOX Sports, most recently at the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship and 2015 Algarve Cup.
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Angela Hucles is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and helped the USWNT to a pair of third-place Women's World Cup finishes as a midfielder (2003, 2007). She played 109 matches with the team and has since contributed to FOX Sports' coverage of the 2014 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament. Hucles currently serves as president of the Women's Sports Foundation, and her fiancée, Meg Mangano, is the team nutritionist for the Los Angeles Clippers.
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FOX Sports plans the most expansive and comprehensive multi-platform coverage ever of the FIFA Women's World Cup(TM), including an unprecedented 16 matches airing live on FOX broadcast network, when the tournament commences on June 6. FOX Sports televises all 52 games in the expanded tournament from six cities across Canada between June 6 and July 5, 2015 live on FOX; FOX Sports 1, America's fastest growing sports network; and FOX Sports 2. All games are available on tablets and mobile devices via the FOX Sports GO app and online at www.FOXSportsGO.com.
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