TV

These days, Alexi Lalas is known for his outlandishly stupid hot takes. But like most American soccer broadcasters on TV, Lalas had quite the playing career back in the day, including a stint in Serie A and two World Cups.

Aside from play-by-play men and women like John Strong and JP Dellacamera and studio hosts like Rob Stone and Max Bretos, most American soccer broadcasters were experienced players before they joined the world of television. 

Whilst soccer has all but come to a halt around the globe, many fans have turned to Netflix to get their footie fix. The streaming behemoth has a fantastic library of soccer-centric movies, shows and documentaries; in fact, some of the best Netflix shows are about soccer.

Beginning Friday, March 20, at 3:00 p.m. ET, you’ll be able to watch the premiere of FIFA’s 2018 World Cup Official Film on YouTube. Since 1954, FIFA has sanctioned an official documentary film for each World Cup, and although the 2018 edition has been available on Amazon Prime Video for some time, Friday will mark its free launch on YouTube.

The documentary features incredible footage of the event which only FIFA can provide, and it takes an in-depth look at tournament stars like Paul Pogba, Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo while the narration is provided by Damian Lewis.

If you’re anything like me, you’re starting to go through sports withdrawal. Not since I became consciously aware of sports has there ever been a period so void of sporting events to watch (or play). 

With almost every single sporting event postponed, canceled or suspended by the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve been reduced to watching replays of games to which we already know the outcome. 

With football matches cancelled across Europe to stop the spread of the coronavirus, LaLiga players Borja Iglesias and Sergio Reguilon found a novel way to attract 60,000 online fans - by battling out a thrilling Seville derby on the FIFA 20 video game. 

All across the country, Saturday-morning rituals have been interrupted. There’s no waking up with Rebecca Lowe and NBCSN’s Premier League coverage, no flipping the channel to see what’s going on in the Bundesliga, no Serie A to play on your ESPN+ app and no searching for beIN SPORTS to check in on LaLiga. 

During a time of year when basketball dominates the airwaves, we don’t even have college and pro hoops to tide us over. No hockey to rediscover our love for. No baseball to look forward to. No NFL offseason news to ignore. 

The list of soccer leagues choosing to suspend play amid precautions over coronavirus is long and spreading as quickly as the disease itself. From the biggest leagues in the world — Premier League, Serie A, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Champions League — to Major League Soccer, organizers are putting off play to protect the population and limit the spread of Covid-19.