Veteran SBS commentator Martin Tyler has come under fire from Australian football fans who accused him of lacking emotion in the World Cup final and are calling for him to retire.
Argentina and France delivered one of the most exciting and thrilling World Cup matches of all time in a see-sawing final that saw six goals, a Kylian Mbappe hattrick, a penalty shootout and Lionel Messi fulfilling his destiny with a maiden trophy.
English football commentator Tyler, 77, has a long association with SBS and a career covering Premier League and UEFA Champions League matches.
Messi is chaired off the field with the World Cup after fulfilling his destiny as one of the greatest – if not the greatest – footballers of all time
Mbappe celebrates one of his three goals but was ultimately left devastated after France lost the penalty shootout against Argentina in the FIFA World Cup final
SBS viewers were forced to listen to Tyler comment on the final on his own and many felt his delivery was well below par.
‘Martin Tyler pretty much ruined that world cup final. Just rubbish commentary, couldn’t have been more boring if he tried,’ one fan posted.
‘Your time is up Martin Tyler, awful commentary throughout the entire World Cup, great career, but overstaying your welcome now,’ added another.
‘Yeah I was thinking its time for Martin Tyler to retire his best is well and truly behind him I couldn’t even get excited when Argentina officially won,’ posted another.
‘It was all worth it if it means I never have to sit through another Martin Tyler World Cup again,’ said another.
Veteran sportscaster Simon Hill leapt to the defense of Tyler and said the issue was with modern fan expectations, not Tyler’s commentary.
Veteran football commentator Simon Hill rushed to defend Tyler, saying the criticism was unfair.
‘It’s totally unfair but it’s a product of the world we live in unfortunately,’ he said to Yahoo Sport Australia.
‘Sport is becoming sold through hyperbole and the next generation sort of expects that and that’s not Martin’s style.
‘He’s very conversational, he’s old school and I grew up listening to people like that.’
Tyler has been the voice of football on SBS for many years and has covered EPL and Champions League games along with World Cups
While most of the comments online slammed Tyler, he did have his supporters as well.
‘Unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed Martin Tyler’s commentary throughout the tournament! Was like a warm, familiar hug,’ one fan posted.
‘Martin Tyler is the best person to comment on any football game,’ said another.
‘I’m loving Martin Tyler’s commentary—makes all the difference,’ posted another.
‘Loving Martin Tyler’s use of the word “Shenanigans” in the penalty shootout,’ added another.
The Australian Financial Review had asked the question about why Tyler was commentating solo at the World Cup earlier in the tournament.
‘We considered putting a co-commentator with Martin Tyler, and discussed it with him. In the past he has always done it solo and FIFA has always provided one commentator for all previous World Cup matches,’ an SBS spokesperson said.
‘For the first time in Qatar, FIFA’s broadcaster has two commentators. When we learned this, it would have been difficult to find a suitable fit at short notice.
‘Martin has always been happy to do it solo.’
Tyler (left) and pundit Alan Smith in the commentary box for English Premier League action for Sky Sports
Days before the World Cup final, Tyler himself said he was unapologetically himself in the commentary and had no plans on changing that.
‘The truth is, I just try to be me,’ Tyler told SBS Sport.
‘It’s not an act, it’s a bit more of a projection.’
‘Don’t try to copy anybody else,’ Tyler said.
‘Show your love for the game, which is the most important thing of all. If you’ve got that and that’s not a given, you’ll want to do every game. The vocabulary has to come naturally, you have to find something.’
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