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CNN Saturday Morning News
Day Two of World Cup Gets Under Way
Aired June 01, 2002 - 08:20 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, day two of the World Cup gets under way, moving from South Korea to Japan. The lineup? Germany plays Saudi Arabia and Uruguay squares off with Denmark. On opening day, Senegal stunned everyone, Friday, by beating France 1-0.
ITN's John Snow reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN SNOW, ITN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some of the celebrating Senegalese see it simply as a victory over the colonial power. Others go much further, predicting victories for many other African teams.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is incredible. This is a big, the big, the biggest day of our country. Yes! Yes! Yes!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you open to door for Cameron. You open the door for Tunisia. We opened the door for South Africa that they can beat, you know, that Nigeria can beat England, that they all can, you know, follow Senegal.
SNOW: The scenes in West Africa were ecstatic. Senegal's most famous son, the musician Baaba Maal, told us what he heard when he called home from the stadium in Korea.
BAABA MAAL: It's like a miracle and I called to Dakar and people are very, very happy, happy from the head of the country to the lowest people they have and they should be happy, also, because people have to count on all Africa and I'm sure the African teams are, people are going to talk about them in the future.
SNOW: No other continent on earth has a greatest psychological need for victory. Has Senegal started a trend?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, that was John Snow from ITN.
Now, the excitement of this year's World Cup can be felt around the globe.
For more on the sport and a look at some of the favorites, "Soccer American" magazine's Will Kuhns joins us now from Washington. Hi, Will.
WILL KUHNS, SENIOR EDITOR, "SOCCER AMERICA": Hi, Kyra. How are you?
PHILLIPS: Good. All right, we've got to talk about Senegal for a minute. I mean here we go. France lost to Senegal. Senegal being a former French colony. This was pretty amazing, wasn't it?
KUHNS: It really was a shocker. I think Cameroon did something similar in 1990 when they knocked off the defending champion Argentina and now Senegal, a first time entrant in the World Cup finals, has repeated that feat.
PHILLIPS: Wow. All right, well, let's talk about powerhouses here, or can we? I guess a lot of unexpected wins have been happening.
KUHNS: Yes. I mean all the favorites that went into the World Cup have to be questioned now after France loses its opener, although, as I said, since Cameroon did it in 1990 and other defending champions have had trouble in the opening game, you maybe don't want to read too much into France being out of it yet. I think some of the other big favorites have to be Argentina and Italy and, you know, perhaps Spain or Portugal as a dark horse.
PHILLIPS: All right, we've got to talk about this. Nations that hardly have a national government have a soccer team. Explain this to me.
KUHNS: Well, I think if you look around the globe, soccer is the most universal sport. It can be played by anyone. It's kind of a common man's game. And because of that, it's played everywhere, in South America, in Africa, in Asia. And every country has that opportunity to show up on the world stage like Senegal did yesterday. And I think that's why countries make it a priority to have a national soccer team.
PHILLIPS: Does the U.S. even have a chance here?
KUHNS: At the World Cup, of winning it all, probably not. They have a chance to make progress, though. In 1998, they went out in the first round without a win and this time if they move to the second round, that would be a big victory.
PHILLIPS: All right, let's talk about soccer in the U.S. for a minute. I remember growing up playing soccer. You played soccer. It was really a big participation sport. It still is. Why isn't it much more popular in the U.S.? Why isn't it watched more? I mean, you know, NASCAR, NFL, why not soccer?
KUHNS: Well, I think there's two reasons. One, the professional league is just getting started. It's only in its seventh year. That's MLS. And so it hasn't reached the kind of exposure or recognition of the other major sports. So a lot of kids don't see it in their daily lives. The kids who play also are very wrapped up in other extracurricular activities and so they go from soccer practice to band practice to whatever is next and sometimes they don't think to watch a soccer game.
PHILLIPS: Jose Misones (ph), he works here with me. He's a part of our crew here in the morning. He's a big soccer player and he's from Mexico. And he wants to know about the salary. Do you think that that's the only way the U.S. can get really great players and therefore more people will want to watch and it'll be more popular, if the players are paid more?
KUHNS: It's hard to tell. I mean the last professional league that was here in the United States, the NASL, had some of the world's greatest stars. But it also collapsed financially in part because of that. And MLS is taking a little more of a conservative approach, a little more of a long-term approach. And I think it's carving out a niche here in the United States.
I don't think that soccer necessarily has to replace one of the major sports to have a place in this sports landscape here.
PHILLIPS: Well, growing up and what influenced me to play soccer, Pale (ph). I mean he was the greatest thing to watch and to admire. Are there any Pales now?
KUHNS: Well, there certainly are world stars. I mean if you watch Zenedine Zedan (ph) of France, he's injured at the moment, but I'm sure he'll play in this tournament, and he's got some magic. As does, as do Raoul at Spain and Juan Sebastian Veron from Argentina. All these players have unbelievable skills. And if you watch closely, you can see some of that flair.
PHILLIPS: So what makes this World Cup exciting for you?
KUHNS: Well, I just think it's like a smorgasbord of international foods kind of where you get to sample all the different flavors from around the world. Each team has its own style of play and if you watch the Germans, they're very calculated and hard working. And if you watch the Argentines, they're very passionate and yet elegant. And it's fascinating to watch these different styles go up against each other.
PHILLIPS: All right, Will Kuhns, senior editor, "Soccer American" magazine.
Thanks, Will.
KUHNS: Thank you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right.
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