| 2008
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP SOCCER
August
29, 2008
ESPN
and ESPN2 FIFA Women’s World Cup 2008 Commentators
Soccer
Hall-of-Famer Julie Foudy to lead team as match and studio
analystDellacamera
and Dicicco return
Former
U.S. Women’s Soccer National Team captain Julie Foudy
and
veteran soccer play-by-play announcer JP Dellacamera will
pair as the
lead commentator team for ESPN and ESPN2’s live coverage
of all FIFA
Women’s World Cup 2008 matches in China (Sept. 10-30),
it was
announced today by Tim Scanlan, ESPN vice president for event
production.
ESPN’s
coverage will include two primary match commentator teams
and a studio team featuring host Rob Stone, Foudy, U.S. Women’s
National
Team defender Heather Mitts and former U.S. coach Tony DiCicco.
Mitts,
unavailable to play in the World Cup due to a knee injury
she sustained
in May, will serve as the U.S. team insider with DiCicco offering
the
tactical analysis from a coach’s perspective. ESPN’s
Los
Angeles-based reporter Jamie Motta will provide news and updates
on the
U.S. Women’s National Team throughout the tournament
from China.
“Led
by Julie, we have an outstanding group of soccer commentators
who
will bring tremendous knowledge of the game and their
fresh-off-the-playing field insights to our coverage,”
said Scanlan.
“The depth of our team reflects the growth women’s
soccer has
enjoyed since the FIFA Women’s World Cup 1999.”
Beginning
Monday, Sept. 10 through Sunday, Sept. 30, ESPN and ESPN2
will combine to present live coverage of all 32 matches of
the 2008 FIFA
Women’s World Cup from China. ESPN will feature 11 matches
while ESPN2 will televise 22. ESPN360.com, the premiere broadband
service from ESPN, will offer live online coverage of all
32 matches of the quadrennial women’s soccer tournament.
Highlights:
·
Foudy will serve as lead match and studio analyst, working
all U.S.
team’s first-round matches, as well as some quarterfinals,
semifinals,
third-place and title matches from China
·
Dellacamera, the play-by-play voice for the most-watched soccer
telecast in U.S. television history (ABC’s July 12 broadcast
of China
vs. U.S. in the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup title match
– seen by 40
million people), returns for his fourth straight Women’s
World Cup
·
DiCicco, who coached the winning U.S. team to the historic
1999 FIFA
Women’s World Cup title, will make his second FIFA Women’s
World Cup
TV appearance as match analyst
·
U.S. team defender Heather Mitts, sidelined by a knee injury,
will
serve as a studio analyst focusing on insider news and information
from
the U.S. team
·
Rob Stone will host all studio segments. Adrian Healey will
provide
play-by-play commentary, and Ohio State University head women’s
soccer
coach Lori Walker will provide analysis in the first round.
Healey will
pair with DiCiccco in the second round.
·
Motta will focus on the U.S. team in China covering breaking
news and
updates throughout the three-week tournament for SportsCenter,
ESPNEWS
and World Cup studio shows.
WOMEN’S
WORLD CUP TV COMMENTATORS’ BIOS
JP
Dellacamera (Play-by-Play) – One of the leading authorities
on
international soccer in the U.S…has worked with ESPN
since 1985…2008
Women’s World Cup will mark the 10th straight FIFA World
Cup event
(six men’s) he has called as a television or radio
commentator…play-by-play commentator for two teams in
the MLS, the
Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls (formerly the MetroStars)…also
called MLS Cup and MLS All-Star matches on ABC.
Tony
DiCicco (Match and Studio Analyst) – Former U.S. national
team
coach (1994-99), DiCicco accumulated a 103-8-8 record, making
him the
all-time leader in wins in U.S. Soccer history…won the
1999 FIFA
Women's World Cup and the first U.S. gold medal in Olympic
women's
soccer…teamed with Dellacamera in 2000 to call the CONCACAF
Women’s
Gold Cup…analyst for ESPN’s coverage of the 2003
FIFA Women’s
World Cup, including the title match on ABC…author of
several books,
including the recently published Catch Them Being Good with
co-author
Dr. Colleen Hacker.
Julie
Foudy (Match and Studio Analyst) – Studio analyst for
ESPN’s
MLS telecasts and 2006 FIFA World Cup…serves as an ESPN
news and
information correspondent providing features for SportsCenter,
Sunday
NFL Countdown, Outside the Lines, et al….debuted on
ESPN June 1998 as
a World Cup studio analyst…received critical acclaim
for her World Cup
studio work in 1998…one of the world’s top female
soccer
players…recently retired as captain of the U.S. national
team – one
of the top four historically successful men’s or women’s
teams in
FIFA World Cup competitions…17-year veteran of the U.S.
Women’s
National Team…won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004,
silver medal
in 2000…graduated from Stanford in 1993 with a degree
in
biology…turning down acceptance to Stanford’s
medical school to
pursue her two passions – soccer and spearheading public
policies…visited Pakistan in 1997 to see first hand
that child labor
was not involved in the products she endorses…former
President of the
Women’s Sports Foundation (2000-’02)…Inducted
into the National
Soccer Hall of Fame in August 2008.
Adrian
Healey (Play-by-Play) – Provides play-by-play commentary
for
ESPN International’s coverage of the UEFA Championship
League, Spanish
Primera, Italian Serie A, and English FA Cup matches…ESPN
play-by-play
commentator for the 2006 FIFA Men’s World Cup…covers
international
matches, including World Cup qualifiers…began his commentating
career
at the Caters News Agency in Birmingham, serving as a radio
soccer
reporter from 1986 to 1990…play-by-play commentator
for the New
England Revolution’s MLS games for seven seasons on
local television
and radio broadcasts.
Heather
Mitts (Studio Analyst/U.S. Team Insider) – Sidelined
by
injury, Mitts is a member of the U.S. Women’s National
Soccer
Team…helped lead the University of Florida to the NCAA
championship in
1999…served as studio analyst for ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 during
the 2003 FIFA
Women’s World Cup and sideline reporter for several
MLS telecasts in
2005…worked for ESPN as sideline reporter for college
football
telecasts in 2005.
Jamie
Motta (Reporter) – ESPN Los Angeles-based bureau reporter…has
covered the World Series, NBA, NCAA Final Four and numerous
marquee
events for ESPN Deportes and ESPN International networks…covered
the
U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team during the 2006 FIFA
World Cup in
Germany…extensive experience having worked for Univision
and the
Pan-American Sports Network (PSN)…co-hosted Galaxy Deportiva
and Los
Angeles Galaxy color commentator for KWHY Channel 22 in Los
Angeles
Rob
Stone (Studio Host) – Host and play-by-play commentator
for select
MLS Primetime Thursday telecasts…joined ESPN in 1997
as the host of
ESPN2’s Worldwide Soccer which debuted that June…Since
1998, has
hosted every MLS Cup, and served as a sideline reporter for
MLS and U.S.
Soccer telecasts on ESPN and ABC…has also served as
college football
sideline reporter for ESPN telecasts since 1999…provided
reports and
features from France ’98 and Germany ’06 for World
Cup Tonight, a
daily recap program…hosted World Cup Tonight on ESPN2
in 2002 and the
pre-, halftime and post-game segments.
Lori
Walker (Match Analyst) – Head coach of the Ohio State
University
Women’s Soccer Team since 1997…during her tenure,
Ohio State has
been consistently ranked among the top 25 programs…women’s
soccer
analyst for NBC’s coverage of the Olympics in 2004…called
regional
matches for Comcast SportsNet and Madison Square Garden (MSG)
network
during the now-defunct Women’s United Soccer Association
(WUSA)…1994
graduate of the University of North Carolina…played
goalkeeper for the
most-successful women’s soccer program in the U.S.
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