Growing up in South Florida, Jozy Altidore heard a lot of Spanish playing soccer with local kids and at home from his Dominican grandmother.As a teenager, he went to play for Villarreal, in the Castellón part of Spain, an area that isn’t that touristy.
His coach and teammates mostly spoke Spanish.Along the way, Altidore picked up the language.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.“A lot of people look at me like, ‘What? You speak Spanish?’” Altidore told NBC News.It will come in handy this summer, when Altidore serves as a World Cup commentator for Telemundo, the games’ official Spanish-language network.
Altidore has no experience in broadcasting, and he admits that his Spanish is just OK.But he saw the World Cup was coming to North America, and he didn’t want to be left on the sidelines.“It’s the biggest, most historical World Cup we’ve had,” Altidore said.
“For me, it was a good opportunity to stay involved, be a part of the World Cup.”But what about his Spanish? “I can get by,” he said.“I thought, ‘What a cool challenge.’ I think you want to challenge yourself, in the things that you’re doing, always.”Plus, he’ll get to see the Telemundo broadcast up close, the excitement of it, which is a stark contrast to the English-language telecasts, particularly the “goal” calls from the announcer Andrés Cantor.
“I always wondered, how does he do that in one breath?” Altidore said.“This guy goes just the whole time.
I can’t wait to see the legend in action.” (Telemundo and NBC News share a parent company, NBCUniversal.)Altidore during the Gold Cup semifinal match between the U.S.and Jamaica in Nashville, Tenn., on July 3, 2019.Robin Alam / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images fileAltidore will be offering analysis and insight on Team USA’s games not far removed from his own time playing for the team.
He is considered one of the best American players...