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Derek Rae

@raecomm.bsky.social

International ⚽️ commentator: ESPN, Bundesliga world feed, #EAFC26 video game (since FIFA19 days) & many others worldwide. Originally from Aberdeen in 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Happiest working in Kâln. Posts in English & German. Contact: Nicola@belmontsport.com

11,314 Followers  |  1,619 Following  |  2,503 Posts  |  Joined: 01.10.2023
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Posts by Derek Rae (@raecomm.bsky.social)

KΓΆln-Dortmund live πŸŽ™οΈ this Saturday with Owo alongside for expert analysis.
World feed: ESPN+, Sky UK & the usual 🌎 channels.
Always nice to be in the Domstadt all week ahead of the Topspiel.

03.03.2026 11:57 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Do you agree with Thomas Muller? πŸ€”

"It’s not spoken about in the office on a Monday morning," he said of North American football fandom to Kicker (translation via Derek Rae). "But the football bubble is not in fact so small. ... The people are interested in the game."

02.03.2026 18:18 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

Good question especially for a freelancer. Different channels/companies book us at different times, sometimes several weeks or even months before. Others leave it quite late so it’s a lot of juggling prep & assignments.

02.03.2026 19:58 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Never because I make sure to plan well ahead often staying the night before in the city of the game :)

02.03.2026 19:54 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

War noch nie bei einer Partie am Aachener-Tivoli aber glΓΌcklicherweise gibtβ€˜s am Mittwoch ein Heimspiel gegen Schlusslicht Schweinfurt und so habe ich ein Ticket abgeholt. Ein neues Stadionerlebnis lohnt sich.

02.03.2026 17:45 β€” πŸ‘ 36    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

You too JΓΆrg! πŸ™Œ

02.03.2026 11:24 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

MΓΌller: β€œHowever: in the playoffs our stadium was packed with 50,000 spectators.”

02.03.2026 10:18 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

MΓΌller: β€œThey grew up with ice hockey, basketball & (American) football. The ranking of football is perhaps comparable to handball in Germany. Due to the topography in Canada, there are significantly fewer football pitches than ice hockey rinks.”

02.03.2026 10:17 β€” πŸ‘ 29    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

MΓΌller: β€œBut the football bubble is not in fact so small. In the stadia there’s euphoric atmosphere. The people are interested in the game. The rest of the population doesn’t know the football bubble at all. They have other topics & sports.”

02.03.2026 10:17 β€” πŸ‘ 32    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thomas Müller responding to a Kicker question about ⚽️ in North America. (In several parts.)
β€œYou must separate 2 different things.
Football here still has no big significance in the life of the general population. It’s not spoken about in the office on a Monday morning.”

02.03.2026 10:16 β€” πŸ‘ 78    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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Kicker has itself a very good Nagelsmann interview in which he - amongst other things - gives his thoughts on World Cup squad selection. A lot of the basic criteria are not what you might think!

02.03.2026 09:33 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks, Pia! Pleasure to be with you & @beveswelt.bsky.social :)

02.03.2026 09:08 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Just a brilliant day in FFM & spring weather for good measure.
Enjoyable win for Eintracht.
Thanks to everyone who came over to the WaldtribΓΌne, a true #SGE matchday institution in Frankfurt.

01.03.2026 21:34 β€” πŸ‘ 91    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 0

Not everything in ⚽️ has to be about narrow advantage.
Personally hope Hearts go on & win the Scottish Premiership & Motherwell finish as high as possible.
Variety is good & as a Scot who spends a lot of spare time talking up our ⚽️ to non-Scots, a permanent duopoly is not fun.

01.03.2026 08:02 β€” πŸ‘ 53    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ™

28.02.2026 21:10 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thrilling BVB-Bayern game. Very entertaining 2nd half in a loud stadium before 81,365.
11-pt gap at the top now.
Looking fwd to a day in the crowd in Frankfurt tomorrow - oh & will be a guest in the WaldtribΓΌne with Pia & Beve if you want to come along!
@pia-ffm.bsky.social @beveswelt.bsky.social

28.02.2026 20:40 β€” πŸ‘ 67    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0
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Saturday coverage on ESPN+

27.02.2026 18:04 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Yes, sometimes we have to modify to make it more idiomatic in English

27.02.2026 16:40 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

There are some similarities between Greater Manchester & the Ruhr

27.02.2026 15:55 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Very significant night for UK politics. Opposing the far right doesn’t mean just holding your nose and voting for a less bad Labour candidate.
Hannah Spencer’s speech πŸ‘β€¦& worth listening to in the USA too where you don’t have to accept establishment corporate Dems.

27.02.2026 06:21 β€” πŸ‘ 56    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

Seeing a lot of very nice posts from VfB fans about their Celtic counterparts & even calls for a fan friendship.
Proof that the fans at the other end need not be anyone’s enemy.

26.02.2026 21:32 β€” πŸ‘ 75    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0

TschΓ€ldig hat’s ordentlich gemacht, gelle? :)

26.02.2026 21:18 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Bayern could effectively end Dortmund's season with Klassiker win The biggest game of the Bundesliga is happening this weekend, with a win for Bayern in Der Klassiker would spark the end of Borussia Dortmund's season.

My Dortmund-Bayern thoughts ahead of Saturday for ESPN.
www.espn.com/soccer/story...

26.02.2026 21:15 β€” πŸ‘ 18    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
ESPN presents the Bundesliga's premier game: Der Klassiker – Saturday, February 28 Borussia Dortmund, currently second in the Bundesliga, welcomes league leaders FC Bayern MΓΌnchen for the second leg of the 2025–26 season’s Der Klassiker – German football’s most intense rivalry – at ...

A busy Saturday! Coverage details here.
espnpressroom.com/us/press-rel...

26.02.2026 16:29 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Did the job in a fairly unspectacular way. But difficult part comes next round.

26.02.2026 07:09 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Kicker headline is β€œThe bitter elimination.”
β€œDortmund goes under, 1:4 in Bergamo and fails in the playoffs.”

26.02.2026 07:06 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

Bitter, bitter, bitter

25.02.2026 19:44 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 0

Mann!!

25.02.2026 19:43 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Boah! 0:3

25.02.2026 19:01 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 2

My opinion? Avoid Dortmund right now.

24.02.2026 20:03 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0