As infuriating as it may be to hear as an opposition fan, there are few things funnier than resolutely biased commentators.
A fine example arrived recently when Dutch commentator Sierd de Vos watched his beloved Atlético Madrid take on PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
Yes, you read that right: a Dutch commentator who supports La Liga side Atlético, not PSV of Holland’s Eredivisie. Go figure.
Find out what happened there, and enjoy this round-up of six biased commentators and their greatest moments of partisanship:
Sierd de Vos, Atlético Madrid
As referred to above, the Ziggo Sport commentator sang in praise of Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak when he saved a penalty against PSV.
The song, about which PSV were said to be “not amused”, translates as “Obi, Oblak, each day I love you more”:
Bjørge Lillelien, Norway
After witnessing his national team beat England in 1981 World Cup qualifier, Lillelien embarked on an epic victory rant.
While he uses some English in the speech – including the immortal line “your boys took a hell of a beating!” – it translates fully as follows:
We are the best in the world! We are the best in the world! We have beaten England 2-1 in football!! It is completely unbelievable! We have beaten England! England, birthplace of giants. Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper, Lady Diana–we have beaten them all. We have beaten them all.
Maggie Thatcher can you hear me? Maggie Thatcher, I have a message for you in the middle of the election campaign. I have a message for you: We have knocked England out of the football World Cup. Maggie Thatcher, as they say in your language in the boxing bars around Madison Square Garden in New York: Your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!
Remarkable stuff, although this Icelandic commentator from Euro 2016 comes close:
Tiziano Crudeli, AC Milan
This guy really, really loves the Rossoneri:
But with the highs, there are lows. See how he responds to Milan going behind to Tottenham and subsequently having a goal chalked off themselves:
If he looks familiar then that may be because his exploits caught the eye of Ladbrokes, who used him in a television advert alongside Chris Kamara.
Carlo Zampa, Roma
For some reason, Zampa seems to get particularly excited when Roma score against Juventus. Check out his reaction to this Francesco Totti goal:
And this last-minute winner from John Arne Riise:
Peter Martin, Celtic
By the sounds of it, a Champions League clash with Liverpool very nearly killed him:
As did this Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick against Manchester United, 50 seconds into the following clip:
For good measure, let’s throw in his reaction to James McFadden’s stunning winner for Scotland in France:
Jack van Gelder, Holland
A rival to Sierd de Vos in the crazy Dutch commentator stakes, here he is commentating on Dennis Bergkamp’s legendary strike against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup:
And here he is enjoying his country’s 5-1 win over Spain at the 2014 World Cup: