Star female pundits more than a match for Wright and Giggs
ALEX SCOTT and Eni Aluko have emerged as stars of Russia 2018 – the first female World Cup pundits on British TV.
Their insights on play as they sit alongside Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Ryan Giggs, have won over an army of new fans.
Londoner and ex Arsenal star Scott, 33, capped 140 times for England, was in the BBC Moscow studio as Argentina played Croatia.
Aluko, 31, Nigerian-born but capped 102 times by England and just signed by Italian giants Juventus, was on ITV for the Denmark v Australia game.
ITV’s coverage was headed by Jacqui Oatley – who in 2007 became Match Of The Day’s first female commentator.
The BBC’s Vicki Sparks, 30, became the first woman to cover a live World Cup match on British TV for Portugal’s win over Morocco on Wednesday.
The women have inspired viewers, many of them female.
During the Denmark v Australia match, Vicuna Porto tweeted: “Pundit-wise, ITV have got their A game going... Eni Aluko, Slaven Bilic and Martin O’Neill in the studio. Jon Champion and Ally McCoist in the commentary box.”
Another fan added: “Eni Aluko is such a refreshing change to the ITV line up, great research, wonderful insight – great addition!”
Aluko, 31, who has qualified as a lawyer, hopes she is opening the door for other women and said she felt she had to “geek out” on stats to not be seen as a “token woman”.
She said before the tournament: “To be going to Russia to work on a men’s World Cup is incredible. I never thought that would happen. It shows a shift in broadcasting where women are becoming accepted just as part of the team.”
But some die-hard fans claim TV bosses have been pandering to political correctness.
But former Manchester United player, Frenchman Patrice Evra faced a Twitter backlash for “patronising” Aluko on air.
And ex England captain John Terry had to issue a statement after he was accused of sexism following comments on Instagram during Vicki’s commentary.