Soccer Watch
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., March 9, 2018
Fox Sports, which will be broadcasting the 2018 World Cup this summer, is using SXSW to launch its 100-day countdown to the June 14 kickoff. Their Fox Sports House will be open to the public from 11am-8pm daily, Fri.-Mon., March 9-12, at the Hangar Lounge, 318 Colorado. It'll host the SXSW Sports Kickoff party, various panel conversations with sports personalities including sports analyst and former WC player Stu Holden, plus launch events for a couple of soccer documentaries: the Fox series Phenoms, and Nossa Chape, the story of the Brazilian team Chapecoense's tragic plane crash in 2016, and the rebuilding since then, which is debuting at the SXSW Film Fest. See the full schedule at foxsportshouse.splashthat.com.
Last week, I got a chance to talk to Holden about what Fox Sports is hoping to do here, and also about the World Cup itself, the USA's failure to qualify ("one of the biggest disappointments in U.S. soccer history"), his own role in the recent U.S. Soccer presidential election, the 2026 WC bid ("Fingers crossed, right?"), and finally the Columbus Crew's potential move to Austin ("I just hate the way that this has all happened," but "I think it'd be a phenomenal thing for the city.") See more of the interview at austinchronicle.com/sxsw.
European Champions League round of 16 concludes next week, March 13-14; note that Daylight Saving Time makes the games one hour later than usual in the U.S., so: Tue.: Sevilla at Manchester Utd., and Shakhtar Donetsk at Roma, 2:45pm. Wed.: Bayern Munich at Besiktas, noon; Chelsea at Barcelona, 2:45pm. All the games are on Fox Sports 1 & 2, plus ESPN Deportes & Fox Deportes. This week, Juventus’ second-half comeback knocked out Spurs to spoil an England sweep; Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Man City also advanced to the quarterfinals.
NY Red Bulls drew first blood in the first of three MLS vs. Mexico matchups in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals Tuesday night, winning 2-0 at Tijuana – just the third competitive win ever by an MLS team in Mexico. Return legs are next week, March 13-14, on Univision Deportes: Tue.: Tijuana at Red Bulls, 8pm; Toronto at Tigres, 10pm. Wed.: Seattle at Guadalajara, 10pm.
