To tweet: https://es.pn/1qwFuGS
- 32 Daily Profiles on Each National Team through Wednesday, June 11
- 32 Dedicated National Team Blogs Debut Today
- Top 50 Players to be Revealed via #WorldCupRank Beginning Wednesday, May 28
- Comprehensive Coverage from Global Writers, Editors and Contributors across ESPN FC, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Argentina, ESPN Brazil and ESPN Mexico
Yesterday, ESPN FC kicked off its 32-day countdown to the 2014 FIFA World Cup with its most comprehensive global multiplatform integration to date. Together with ESPN Deportes, ESPN Argentina, ESPN Brazil and ESPN Mexico, ESPN FC will deliver in-depth coverage in the final month before Brazil across television, digital and social properties worldwide.
ESPN FC’s 32 Teams in 32 Days – a profile of all 32 national teams competing in this year’s World Cup – will continue today with Australia and conclude with host country Brazil on Wednesday, June 11. Each day, ESPN FC will dedicate daily in-depth discussion and debate fully integrated across TV, digital video and social platforms with a rundown of key players, expectations and tactics. The weekly schedule for its daily multiplatform team profiles:
- May 11-17: Algeria, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mexico, Iran, France, Costa Rica
- May 18-24: Greece, Germany, Cameroon, Portugal, Russia, Ivory Coast, Honduras
- May 25-31: Uruguay, Switzerland, Croatia, Ecuador, Nigeria, Japan, Chile
- June 1-7: Belgium, South Korea, Ghana, Italy, USA, Netherlands, Colombia
- June 8-11: England, Argentina, Spain, Brazil
Additionally, ESPN FC today launches 32 dedicated national team blogs for each of the 32 nations at the World Cup, which will provide unprecedented depth to its coverage in Brazil. National team bloggers include Fernando Duarte and Tim Vickery (Brazil), Aleksandar Holiga (Croatia), Raphael Honigstein (Germany), Ken Matsushima (Japan), Tom Marshall and Andrea Canales (Mexico), Colin Udoh (Nigeria), Sid Lowe and Graham Hunter (Spain), Jeff Carlisle and Doug McIntyre (USA), among others.
On Wednesday, May 28 – two weeks before the eve of the World Cup – ESPN FC will also count down the top 50 players expected to compete in Brazil with #WorldCupRank, a comprehensive poll from ESPN FC writers and editors across all regions. The top 3 ranked players will be revealed live on ESPN tied to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Preview show at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 11. Highlights include:
- Reaction and analysis from a team of writers and editors from ESPN FC, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Argentina, ESPN Brazil and ESPN Mexico
- On-air integration across SportsCenter and multiple social platforms
- Countdown integration with ESPN FC daily at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 in the U.S.
Additional surrounding content to be featured on ESPN FC across platforms leading up to the World Cup will be delivered by ESPN FC’s Gabriele Marcotti (multimedia football analyst and writer), Iain Macintosh (features writer and Daily World Cup blogger), Michael Cox and Adrian Melville (Tactics and Analytics bloggers), John Brewin (match reaction and analysis), ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine senior writers Wright Thompson (sharing stories through several long-form enterprise pieces and blogging throughout Latin America) and Wayne Drehs (including profiles on some of the most compelling figures), and ESPN The Magazine columnist Chris Jones (features and breaking news). Also in the lead-up to the World Cup, acclaimed best-selling author Nick Hornby will pen essays for ESPN FC. Highlights of stories featured on ESPN FC over the next month include:
- Inside: U.S. Soccer’s March to Brazil (May 13) – behind the scenes content including video, blogs and more tied to the premiere of the new series
- E:60 World Cup Special (May 13) – an entire show devoted to some of the biggest names and best stories in the beautiful game including a rare interview with Argentina’s superstar Lionel Messi, a profile of perhaps the greatest player of all-time Pelé as he travels across two continents, and the very personal backstory of US Men’s team captain Clint Dempsey. In addition, there will be an investigative piece by Jeremy Schaap looking into preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Observers estimate that under current conditions, by 2022 over 4,000 workers will die in the effort to build Qatar’s World Cup infrastructure.
- ESPN The Magazine Transactions Issue (May 13) – will feature a story by senior writer Wright Thompson on Vedad Ibisevic of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, his escape from genocide and pursuit of football
- World Cup Memories (May 19-23) – Marcotti and ESPN FC columnist Roger Bennett interview a series of former players on their thoughts from past World Cup finals
- Brazil 1950: A Retrospective (May 26) – the memorable tournament in retrospect, reliving the epic Brazil vs. Uruguay match with an essay from Brazilian expert Alex Bellos and contributions from Brazilian football expert Fernando Duarte, Marcotti and ESPN Brazil
- US and Mexico National Team International Friendlies (May 27-Jun 7) – ESPN FC, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Mexico will have complete friendly coverage for both national teams in addition to England, Germany and Brazil
- ESPN The Magazine World Cup Preview Issue (May 30) – will hit newsstands less than two weeks before the start of the World Cup
- Growing Up Brazil (June 2-6) – Duarte will pen a series of first-person essays about what it was like to grow up outside of Rio as a football fan, a journey that has taken him from playing on dirt pitches to following the Brazilian national team as both a fan and journalist
- World Cup 2014: Everything You Need to Know (June 10-11) – a two-day package with everything fans – both avid and casual alike – will need to know heading into June 12
- Top 10 World Cup Moments (June 11) – ESPNFC.com will host a one-hour special on digital platforms recapping the most memorable (and most infamous) moments in World Cup history
- Men in Blazers – podcast hosts Michael Davies and Roger Bennett will deliver video previews for Grantland.com leading up to the World Cup and will contribute to ESPN FC during the tournament
- 30 for 30 Soccer Series – supporting content tied to 30 for 30’s shorts and features will continue to run on ESPN FC, including Bennett on Maradona’s 1994 World Cup infamy, Duarte on how Brazilian legends have handled life after football, ESPN football analyst Tommy Smyth on being an Irish-American in New York for the win versus Italy, what happened to the Jules Rimet trophy and ESPN The Magazine’s Brett Forrest on Barbosa
-30-
-
-
-
-
-
