Soccer fans are going over the World Cup draw with the same kind of zeal and attention to detail that college basketball fans do when looking at their March Madness brackets.
In a few days, the biggest sporting event on the planet, World Cup 2006, starts in Germany and you can bet that people throughout all the wonderful ethnic neighborhoods that make up Baltimore?s rich soccer history will be watching the games and wearing their national colors.
All World Cup games can be seen in both English and Spanish with WMAR TV 2 airing 12 games, ESPN 21 games and ESPN2 31 games, in both standard definition and high definition. The Spanish language broadcasts will be seen on Univision with eight games live on TeleFutura, with no commercial interruptions during play.
DC-based XM will offer live broadcasts of the games in both English and Spanish with total radio coverage of the Cup.
The best web site to follow all the action is www.fifaworldcup.com, the official site of World Cup 2006. It is offered in a number of languages.
Soccer fans need a home for all things World Cup, and that is where Gol TV comes in, providing the most comprehensive coverage of world soccer anywhere on TV.
It offers in-depth pre- and post-game coverage throughout the entire World Cup with daily coverage from Germany. (Gol TV is seen on most cable systems in the DC area, and they broadcast in both English and Spanish.)
Presently Gol TV offers a number of great shows leading up to the Cup, with its nightly newscast GolTV News airing at 7 o?clock Monday-Sunday with comprehensive pre-Cup coverage.
World Cup History, seen Monday-Sunday at 7:30 p.m., is an outstanding show that gives fans a chance to look back at some of the greatest games ever played. FIFA?s World Cup Focus 2006 seen Wednesdays and Fridays, 7:30pm takes a look at the teams in this year?s tournament and how they made it to Germany. Futbol Mundial on Wednesdays and Fridays, 7:30 p.m. showcases the fans and their passion as they follow their favorite teams.
Once the World Cup begins, fans can follow the day?s highlights on GolTV in Germany Monday-Sunday at 8 p.m.. There will total coverage of all the results as well as interviews and previews of the next day?s action.
Now you have your guide to all things leading up to World Cup 2006. So enjoy “The Beautiful Game!”
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer.
