Oh my ‘Goooooooooooooooooooool! Argentina campion mondial!’

There was only one man happier than Lionel Messi at the World Cup Final on Sunday. Andrés Cantor. His feet never touched the ball, but from the booth the sportscaster witnessed a win for his country that gave him a chance to yell  his signature “Goooool!” like never before.

After covering the World Cup since 1990 and calling losses for Argentina twice, Qatar 2022 gave the Jewish commentator the victory he has dreamt about and after the bellow he broke down in tears.

Born in Buenos Aires, Cantor’s mother is of Romanian Jewish descent, and his father’s gamily fled Nazi-occupied Poland. The family moved to California in the 1970s, where his mother had a psychology practice and his father was a teacher and physician.

Cantor’s first English-language assignment was the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he called both men’s and women’s football for NBC, complete with his signature call of “Goooool!”

Before the start of the World Cup, he said that he was taking lessons to prepare his voice as he was going to be calling two matches a day in Qatar.

Andrés Cantor, who moved to the U.S. from Buenos Aires as a teenager, calls Argentina winning the World Cup: pic.twitter.com/4PougSj1g7

— luffy (@vvsLuffy) December 18, 2022

English-speaking commentators are naturally more reserved, and Cantor was the first to introduce this type of drama to the airwaves. He has been honoured as Sports personality of the year in the US, and voiced himself in The Simpsons episode You Don’t have to Live like a Referee in 2014. His emotive soccer shout has been used in adverts for Volkswagen and is even a downloadable ringtone. He was a guest on David Letterman’s The Late Show many times,

Another unique line of Cantor’s can be heard whenever a game reaches half-time or is over: “El árbitro dice que no hay tiempo para más” (the referee says there is no time for more).

Before last night Andres said that this was his favourite goal call and he almost fainted. Last night’s thrilling World Cup final may have been decided on penalties, but this just increased the fervour especially for Cantor who held his breath for the final penalty in preparation for the loudest  “GOOOOOOOOL!” of his career and then he cried with joy along with the team and everyone watching in Argentina.