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CNN Live At Daybreak

Team USA Has Come Long Way

Aired June 19, 2002 - 05:57   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: American soccer fans are gearing up for Friday's World Cup quarterfinals match between the United States and Germany. Team USA has come a long way, baby.

CNN "Sports Illustrated" correspondent Terry Baddoo reports on the coach who gets all the credit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TERRY BADDOO, CNN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED CORRESPONDENT: The fact that the U.S. soccer team is enjoying its best World Cup ever is, of course, done in no small part to the coach. Since taking over at the end of 1998 in the wake of a disastrous World Cup campaign in France, Bruce Arena has turned the team from a disgruntled group of under achievers into a firm unit that believes it can compete with the best.

So who is this football messiah?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not a dictator, by any means.

FRANKIE HEJDUK, U.S. WORLD CUP SOCCER DEFENDER: He tells it like it is. You know, he tells the players how it is and he's pretty straightforward with you and, you know, as a player that's what you want.

BADDOO: He's a scholar of the game with a coaching pedigree that includes five U.S. collegiate titles with the University of Virginia, plus two MLS cup triumphs with D.C. United. But while Bruce Arena has been embraced domestically, it's only now, after making the quarter finals, that he's begun to blossom on the World Cup stage and he's a reluctant celebrity.

BRUCE ARENA, U.S. WORLD CUP HEAD COACH: Honestly speaking, I have a hard time doing these press conferences, if I had to honestly speak.

BADDOO: Arena's dry wit and understated personality might just be the key to the USA's current success. Inheriting the team from Steve Sampson, Arena had the job of restructuring American confidence among a set of players disillusioned by World Cup failure at France '98 and at odds with a coaching style that some said promoted conflict.

COBI JONES, U.S. WORLD CUP MIDFIELDER: You could tell from the outside even looking in, the atmosphere is completely different in this camp as compared to the one in '98, you know? In '98 there was a lot of tension between the players and the coach, you know, and that kind of spilt over onto the field, which made it very difficult to get anything done.

BADDOO: Perhaps Arena's biggest achievement is in getting his players to see their own interests as secondary to those of the team. Unique among the quarter finalists in that he's played all but one of his 19 available outfielders so far, Arena has tailored his lineups to fit the job in hand while successfully maintaining team harmony.

JONES: I think everyone on the team knew it was going to be a squad effort. Everyone knew that ahead of time Bruce had established that. You know, the farther you go, it's going to be the more and more games in a short period of time. And to be competitive at this level in the World Cup, you're going to have to have players that are going to be fresh and ready to play, you know, the full 90 minutes, not players that will play, you know, four or five games in a short period of time that are going to be like 60, 70 percent.

ARENA: Any national team, they're all league players, regardless of whether it's Germany or the United States. They're good players, from the number one player to the bottom player. And you're always dealing with egos. Some are happy with you, some are not. That's all part of the process. But I try to make myself available to these guys as much as possible without being too close to them, yet not too distant.

BADDOO: And that could well be Arena's mantra, whether dealing with the players or the media. Though, if the U.S. team achieves all he feels it can at this World Cup, there'll certainly be fewer places to hide.

(on camera): Terry Baddoo, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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