Twitter lit up on Wednesday night as comedians Jules Schiller, Tegan Higginbotham and Steen Raskopoulos presented their pre-match show on ABC2.
The segment featured skits and a tacky whiteboard with cutouts of players in formation instead of graphics.
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ABC mocked after cringe-worthy football coverage
The Sydney FC and Liverpool FC friendly was matched with an awkward pre-match show on ABC2, which has been widely ridiculed.
More criticism came at halftime when the trio crossed live to a pitchside reporter who asked a fan to name his favourite "possession", before snatching back the microphone and exclaiming "I've been possessed with the spirit of football".
Viewers variously described the overall coverage as an "embarrassment", "cringey" and "just about the worst sports coverage ever", while one lamented that "footballs were actually crying".
We've got Billy the Scouser. Who have YOU got?
— ABC Grandstand (@abcgrandstand) May 24, 2017
Follow it all live on our blog, and on @ABC2. All details here: https://t.co/7Yokg1oYhQ pic.twitter.com/IoJGaim9Lf
Some said it was disrespectful to treat a match with a world-class team as a joke.
"All the years of superb W-League TV coverage & everything else the ABC does well disrespected by those three presenters tonight #livsyd," one tweeted.
Another wrote: "If @FFA thinks ABC is the right fit for free-to-air (A-League) coverage, we might as well give up. They should be tearing up contracts tonight. #LIVSYD."
Labor senator Sam Dastyari, who happened to be at a senate estimates hearing with ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie on Wednesday night, suggested the ABC intends to respond.
"Sleep well Australia - the CEO of ABC has committed to formally providing a response as to the #livsyd coverage tonight," Dastyari tweeted.
Learnt that to be centre of a Twitter Hate storm it's a worse crime to do badly reviewed sports coverage than propose blowing up ABC staff.
— Julian Schiller (@Julesschiller) May 24, 2017
AAP
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