Ian Darke and Julie Foudy will serve as ESPN’s lead commentator team for this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany. Darke will serve as the play-by-play commentator while Foudy will be the network’s lead analyst.
This summer will be Darke’s first Women’s World Cup. Last summer his voice became recognizable to Americans as he called matches in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, including his call of Landon Donovan’s dramatic stoppage time goal against Algeria that sent the United States through to the knockout round.
Foudy served as ESPN’s lead analyst for the 2007 Women’s World Cup in the United States.
“Ian’s experience as one of the best English-language soccer commentators, and Julie’s insight and history with the Women’s World Cup having played in four straight tournaments, make this an ideal pairing for the event,” said Jed Drake, ESPN senior vice president and executive producer, production.
This announcement comes a week after ESPN revealed that Bob Ley and Rebecca Lowe would be hosting studio programming from Germany. This is the first time that ESPN will feature pregame, postgame and halftime segments for the women’s tournament.
ESPN previously revealed that all 32 Women’s World Cup matches will be aired live on ESPN or ESPN2 this summer. They will also all be aired online on www.espnnetworks.com.
Check out the full release here.
