Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

America Beats Odds at World Cup

Aired June 17, 2002 - 05:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: From world politics to the World Cup, the field is getting narrower. Today, it's the United States playing Mexico.

Our Tim Lister joins us live, from Seoul, Korea, with all the details.

And I just can't get over it: The United States has won.

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The United States, Carol, has won, an extraordinary performance. And this team that was last in the last World Cup is now through to the last eight, which translated literally means they are one of the eight best soccer nations in the world. They weren't expecting that going into this tournament.

They sustained a lot of Mexican pressure today, but scored early on, and I think that made them feel much more confident. A terrific goal by Brian McBride, a fierce drive into the corner after a nice push back from Josh Wolff. And the Mexicans fought forward, and they tried to put the United States under all sorts of pressure; in fact, they enjoyed 2/3 of the possession in that first half.

Then the United States broke away in the second half to score another goal. Eddie Lewis with a cross, and Landon Donovan dips his head. He's only 20 years old. He's from Redlands, California. But he scored his second goal of the tournament.

And the United States is through at the end. A very sizable contingent of U.S. fans down in Jeonju, under a sweltering sun, were taunting their Mexican counterparts with a chant, "Adios amigos."

They go through to the next round to meet the mighty Germans -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I just got to see a little bit of the game, but it looks quite physical, quite rough, actually.

LISTER: It was quite physical, but then the United States is quite a physical side. They're not the biggest side in this tournament, but they defended deft, they tackled very fiercely, and they have in their goalkeeper one of the outstanding players of this tournament, Brad Friedel, a terrific player from Ohio; he now plays his top soccer in England, but he has kept them in the game time after time. They're a tough team. The Germans will not find it easy to break them down -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Tell us a little more about the German team: How good is it?

LISTER: The German team exceeding expectations. They're always a very good team. They've won the World Cup three times, and they came to this tournament with not great expectations. They've had a lot of injuries, a little bit of dissent within the camp. But they're growing with every game. And they have a terrific goal scorer, in fact the top scorer in the tournament, Miroslav Klose. He will cause some problems for the American (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

The Germans growing in confidence, they feel they can go all the way. But no one's taking anything for granted in this World Cup anymore, because there are just so many surprises -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you about that, because everyone pretty much thinks Brazil is going to take the World Cup. What do you think now?

LISTER: Well, I don't think they'll insure me to make any more predictions, because I started with Argentina, and now they're gone. France is gone.

Brazil has got to be one of the favorites, with Germany now. They're playing exceptionally well.

But then, you have to look at this World Cup. Senegal is in the last eight of this World Cup, and they deserve to be there. So I wouldn't want to make any assumptions about what happens in the next few games, running up to the final, on June 30.

COSTELLO: That's what makes it fun, though, right?

LISTER: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Tim Lister, thanks, reporting live for us from Korea this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com