As an American soccer fans, we’re subjected to countless drab British announcers who have all the entertainment value of a trip to the dentist. For every excellent Ian Darke there are dozens of nameless, faceless commentators who add little excitement to the game. We don’t want soccer to be inundated with Gus Johnsons, but would it kill Arlo White to expand his vocabulary a bit?
Fortunately, Americans have one British announcer who is in a league of his own. For decades, Ray Hudson has been delighting soccer fans with his Shakespearean metaphors and charming explosions of ecstatic joy.
While we wish Hudson’s brilliance wasn’t hidden on beIN SPORTS, which is nearly impossible to find without a fuboTV subscription, we do appreciate the beIN SPORTS USA YouTube account sharing the above video of Hudson describing Barcelona goals. And by Barcelona goals, we of course mean Lionel Messi goals.
A couple of years ago, we brought some of Hudson’s best calls to life with animation (which you can watch here or below). We’re a bit biased, but we think we did it better than beIN, which just added some memes to Hudson’s calls. Then again, beIN actually has the rights to show Messi highlights to American audiences, so that makes the above Ray Hudson Messi calls video worth a watch anyway.
