U.S. Team Has High Hopes For First Match Against Portugal
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk a little soccer now on DAYBREAK. The U.S. team has high hopes for its very first match, which will be tomorrow against Portugal. But the U.S. team has to find a way to keep their star players on the field. Here is CNN's Tim Lister. He joins us now by phone live from Seoul, South Korea. And I hear you're in the middle of a game, Tim. Who is playing?</s>TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're about to play, Carol. It's South Korea against Poland. And we're in downtown Seoul, and there are literally tens of thousands of South Korean fans on the streets here all bedecked in their team's red shirts. That game kicks off in just under two hours' time. Absolutely fever pitch here. Of course, Korea are in the same group as the United States. And when the U.S. plays Korea, it will have to deal with the official support that's come here, the Red Devils, as well as the Korean team on the field. The United States, of course, has more security than any other team at this World Cup. We visited the training ground yesterday. There were South Korean police and troops ringing (ph) the ground. But that doesn't appear to have effected the mood of the team. They seem relaxed, confident, optimistic. They'll need to be against Portugal tomorrow. Portugal one of the world's finest teams. And, of course, the United States is not one of the super powers in soccer terms. But the team looks as though it's in good shape. A couple of injury worries over some of their forward players: Claudio Arena (ph) and another of their forward players that's also carrying a bit of a</s>COSTELLO: Yeah, because last year, didn't the U.S. team come in last place?</s>LISTER: Unfortunately, at the last World Cup in France they did come in last place and they only scored one goal while they were at that tournament. This time they're expecting to do a lot better. They have a tough group, Poland, South Korea and Portugal. They'll be very happy if they get through to the next phase. We'll see -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Tim Lister, thank you. We'll let you get back to the game. Sounds exciting. If you're crazy for more World Cup coverage, we've got it on our Web site. Log on to cnn.com for scores and schedules, plus an in-depth look at the teams and players. Remember AOL users, the key word is CNN. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com Portugal>