FOX Sports has announced their broadcast team for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which kicks off on Friday July 7.
The most important news is that Landon Donovan will return as a co-commentator to team up with John Strong and Stu Holden for the US Men’s National Team games. In the group stage, the US plays Panama, Martinique and Nicaragua.
Pregame coverage will be hosted by Kate Abdo and Rob Stone. Both Abdo and Stone will rotate the hosting responsibilities, and will be joined by studio analysts Alexi Lalas, Aly Wagner, Eric Wynalda, Mariano Trujillo, Giles Barnes and Fernando Fiore.
In addition to the trio of Strong-Donovan and Holden, the other commentators will be made up of JP Dellacamera, Glenn Davis and Mark Followill. Co-commentators will include Brad Friedel, Eric Wynalda, Cobi Jones and Tony Meola.
Glaring omissions from the list of talent include Jorge Perez-Navarro (who commentated the Mexico games during the Confederations Cup) as well as the multi-versatile Ian Joy.
On the latest World Soccer Talk Podcast, we go into more detail regarding the pros and cons of several FOX Sports analysts including Cobi Jones, Fernando Fiore and Eric Wynalda.
The U.S. MNT kicks off its CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign against Panama on Saturday, July 8, on the FOX broadcast network at 4:30 PM ET. On Sunday, July 9, reigning champion Mexico squares off against El Salvador at 9:00 PM ET on FS1. French Guiana opens the tournament against Canada on Friday, July 7, at 7:00 PM ET on FS2. Quarterfinal coverage airs Wednesday, July 19 (FS1, 6:00 PM ET and 8:30 PM ET) and Thursday, July 20 (FS1, 6:30 PM ET and 9:30 PM ET), with the semifinals on Saturday, July 22, at 10:00 PM ET and Sunday, July 23, at 9:00 PM ET, on FS1. The championship match is scheduled for Wednesday, July 26, at 9:00 PM ET on FS1.
