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American Morning
World Cup Getting Under Way in South Korea This Morning
Aired May 31, 2002 - 08:48 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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: According to the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, a stunning 74 percent of all Americans are not interested in professional soccer. I would be in that group. However, America is pretty much alone in the world in that regard. The World Cup is getting under way in South Korea this morning, and it is the biggest sporting event on the planet Earth.
Richard Quest is "Over There," as he is on Fridays, and he is at a sports bar in central London where fans are watching the first match -- Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jack, you may not care about soccer/football and, in fact, people here would lynch you if you came in here and made those sort of comments. Before we talk about the game, I'm going to give you a lesson.
Let's talk about how you play proper football, soccer as you call it. You have a ball. You put the ball on the mat. You then kick the bejeebes out of it. Look at this. This is not going to be a goal here. And that's basically the way it's played. The object is to get this ball into that goal or this ball into that goal. Backwards and forwards is the object of the exercise. We're playing it down here.
You'll see they're playing it in South Korea for real. It's being played of course in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and Senegal, and of course Senegal is winning. It's a bit of an upset at the moment. Let's talk to some of the people about who they think should win the World Cup.
Hello, gentlemen. Come on in. It is lunchtime, Jack. They are allowed to drink. It's after the sun is over the yard (ph).
Who is going to win this year's World Cup?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: France.
QUEST: You think France. Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I think that they are the strongest team, and I think they have the best side over all.
QUEST: And they're losing to Senegal at the moment. Back in a second.
What about you? What do you think? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably France as well.
QUEST: You're also a France.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, yes.
QUEST: You want France to win?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, definitely. I'm hope England wins.
QUEST: You hope England will win.
Why is football so popular here and so unpopular in the United States?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's ingrained in the culture here. We've been playing for years and years. In the states, it's only just started. Maybe in 10 or 20 years, it will be very popular in the states as well.
QUEST: Which is better, American football or soccer?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no discussion, soccer. It has to be.
QUEST: What about you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, definitely soccer.
QUEST: There you are, Jack, no discussion, the way they put it.
And if you really want to involve yourself fully into the atmosphere of it, you know, football players -- soccer players, they become personalities, Jack, for the way they dress, for their hair, for everything about them. The mohawk style of David Beckham is very well known indeed, so much so that one beer company is giving away these wigs for those of us who want to fully join in.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: Now tell me that football isn't important.
CAFFERTY: This is a man who was the subject of an extensive profile in "The Wall Street Journal" a couple weeks ago.
Richard, enjoy your weekend. Do you also like France to win?
QUEST: Look, I'm English. I've got to support England. Everybody here probably has something different. What's interesting, on our survey this morning on CNN International, we asked the viewers which team would you hate to win the World Cup? And guess what?
CAFFERTY: What?
QUEST: France was number one. By the way, Jack, here's a bet with you. If America, if the United States gets through the next round, I'll buy you breakfast at the Tick Tock Diner next time I'm in New York.
CAFFERTY: You're on, partner. And if they don't, I'll buy you a dirty water hot dog from the cart across from Penn Station, all right?
Richard Quest.
QUEST: It's a deal.
CAFFERTY: All right, "Over There."
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