Some comments on the World Cup broadcasts

The staging of the World Cup is impeccable. If only it were always like this. There are no replays while the match is in play. They take advantage of the breaks to replay goals, good chances, spectacular plays, or controversial actions. Football matches well broadcast with a singularity: the almost sacred appearance of Gianni Infantino. In a good handful of matches, at the tenth minute of each half, the FIFA president appears in the box, in a centered shot and slight low angle. Like a Roman emperor observing his feast. The instruction for the directors is very clear. Not even Leni Riefenstahl was so explicit nor did she have such obvious orders when it came to highlighting who holds power.

The commentary is the differentiating factor. On DAZN, the important matches are covered by Miguel Ángel Román with a good voice and a sober yet colloquial style. He is often accompanied by the platform's commentator Alberto Edjogo, undoubtedly the foremost analyst of the World Cup in both his ability to communicate and explain football. The rest of the platform's commentators, seasoned in the profession, demonstrate great knowledge of the countries' player cards and the footballing temperament of each selection. It is logical that a pay channel has the best experts.

The most important matches and those from Spain also offered by Televisión Española fall to Juan Carlos Rivero on La 1. A classic of the channel, where even his confusions are already part of the brand of the house. He would like to be José Ángel de la Casa, but his slips already seem like extra entertainment for the audience, an added game to discover the blunder of the day. Rivero, it must be said, has opted to laugh at himself, but there are errors that freeze the smile. In the Spain-Portugal match this Monday, he changed the name of the Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa and christened him Diogo Jota, the Liverpool footballer who died last year in a traffic accident. Alongside Rivero, everything flows better when Chapi Ferrer is there. The ex-Barcelona player does not have great oratorical ability, but he knows how to put himself in the shoes of the player, the coach, and the fan. On the other hand, neither Mario Suárez nor Vero Boquete go beyond the clichés and obvious statements that any football fan could make.

The one that isn't quite finding its tone in this World Cup is La 2 Cat. The commitment to broadcasts in Catalan is good and reasonable, but it seems they want to make an unusual approach to justify it. Joan Carles Garcia and Albert Font as commentators are correct, as are the contributions of Marc Brau. But sometimes the care for Catalan is unpolished and some weak pronouns fail. The history of football in Catalan has set the bar for demand very high. Lluís Carreras is one of the best commentators of the World Cup, choosing phrases and reading the games. It is also very worthwhile to listen to the contributions of former player Olga García. The problem is that the model falters.

Some days they are announcer and analyst, and on other days Sergi Mas and Edu Mutante join them. They want to do, proportionally speaking, what Alfons Arús did years ago with Barça, but they don't succeed. They lose the tone, they function in fits and starts and the broadcast is irregular. Mutante's forced imitations don't fit in. He imitates Valdano, Salinas or Guardiola well, but they grate in the middle. And the younger ones no longer know who José María García is. The broadcast has not decided what it wants to be. It's not funny enough for those who want to laugh and it alienates those who seek rigor. The problem is not with Mutante, but with whoever decided that, to differentiate itself from Spanish, this should be the model in Catalan.