Team USA Still Alive; Mexico's World Cup Fever
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. World Cup fever is hot, hot, hot despite that heartbreaking tie with Portugal. Huge watch parties from coast to coast, fans cheering on Team USA, hoping and praying for the team to advance to the next round. And even though last night's match against Portugal ended in that draw, the U.S. team is still alive and is looking forward to Thursday's match against Germany. Oh, that's going to be a tough one. Chris Cuomo live in Rio de Janeiro. Oh, you talked to Jeremiah Jones, did you?</s>CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": I did. I did. Jermaine had a lot to say. You know the interesting thing is, Carol, they got a point last night, so they actually moved closer to advancing. You know losing would have been the problem here. Yes, yes, they did have the victory in their hand and it did hurt, but you've got to remember, that's the nature of this sport. Just a few minutes in, when Portugal scored first, people thought the USA were done. The crowd was so quite last night. So while it's disappointing on one level, you can't see it as too much of a negative because I'll tell you who doesn't, the U.S. squad doesn't. Yes, they wanted to win, but they know that the tie puts them in position where they want to be and they believe in themselves going into their big match on Thursday against Germany. And how do I know that? Well, the young man named Jones, who had the biggest goal of the match, in my opinion, because forget about Portugal's goal to tie, that's about their existence, I'm worried about the U.S. They were down 1-0. The U.S. needed something. And Jones gave it to them. Here's his take on the game, his goal and why he believes in the U.S.</s>JERMAINE JONES, TEAM USA MIDFIELDER: But, yes, mistakes happen and we have to learn that we step on and we have still everything in our own hands and we have to try now to take something from the German game. And we still can go to the next round so we don't try to make us so - so much crazy about what happened. We have to step on and look that we get some points against Germany.</s>CUOMO: See, so there's a quiet confidence there. It's also interesting, Jones, you know, lived in Germany. Three of the player on the U.S. side have connections to Germany. And, of course, the coach was a star, a legend in German futbol, as a coach and a player, so it's very interesting that they're matched up against the German side in this very important match for them. But I tell you, it was so amazing to be here, Carol. You would have loved it. Rio is one of most exciting cities as it is, but it's just on fire because it's the futbol mecca and you've all these countries here coming together and for once, you know, for people like us, we're not covering it as a negative.</s>COSTELLO: No. And I must admit, I'm not a soccer fan, which is why I got Jermaine's name wrong. I know him now and that's good, but you're right, this is - this is - I don't know, it's almost making me a soccer fan, but not quite because, you know, I'm into Team USA and everything and it is exciting to watch, but I'm just not used to such low scoring games.</s>CUOMO: Well, but you like baseball, you know, and baseball can be low scoring and yet you just have to appreciate the strategy of it. Look, I am a contact guy. I'm getting more into futbol - soccer. I'm trying to get my kids to play it. I don't want them to play football, like I did. But for me, what you would love is this international comity, c- o-m-i-t-y. You know, these people coming together, being here for each other. It's so refreshing, Carol, given what we cover day in and day out and so many of the places we travel and why. That's what I love about it. You know, one of our producers here is from Portugal and we had a fun bet about the game and if I lost, I was going to wear the Portuguese jersey. He wound up saying that if they tied, he would lose, because he was that cocky about Portugal. You know that's the way they can be. They may have the best player in the world, Mr. Ronaldo, who's also so handsome that I've got to hear about it all the time from my - like three generations, my daughter, my wife and my mom all think this guy is gorgeous. So, anyway, the tie went to the U.S., so he had to wear the U.S. jersey and yet there was still love. He hasn't spoken to me this morning. He's shooting me some very hateful looks right now, Carol, but that's what I love about it and you would too. And you're in Rio, you're in Manaus, you're in Sao Paulo. I mean this is Brazil. This is just awesome.</s>COSTELLO: Yes, I would probably love it a lot more if I was in Rio. Chris Cuomo, thanks so much. I appreciate it. We'll catch you later. Well, Team USA's fans might be dominating the headlines. Fans of the Mexican national team aren't that far behind when it comes to showing their love for their soccer team. Stephanie Elam has that part of the story for you.</s>STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Of all the countries playing in the World Cup, there's one team with two huge fan bases, the Mexican national team.</s>GEORGE ALFARO, SOCCER FAN: If the United States play Portugal, I root for the U.S. If the U.S. plays Mexico, I might (ph) root for Mexico.</s>ELAM: Affectionately known as El Tree (ph), the team is not just supported by its country men and women, but also by patriotic young Americans of Mexican descent.</s>ELAM (on camera): You were born here, but you love watching Mexico play. Why?</s>ALFARO: Of course. Because my parents, you know, they came over here, migrated to the U.S. and I've been to Mexico many times. I love Mexico and I love the spirit, I love the culture and everything about it.</s>ELAM (voice-over): In the U.S., games are often broadcast in English and in Spanish, or a combination of both. But there is definitely something about watching a match in Spanish.</s>GUSTAVO DOMINGUEZ, PRIMETIME SPORTS & EVENT MARKETING: It just has a rich tradition, just the way you do the play by play. The calling of the game becomes a little more dramatic.</s>ELAM: The team is so popular in America that it played several games in the U.S. before the World Cup.</s>DOMINGUEZ: The attendance for the Mexican national team games, for example, this year, ranged from 50 to 85,000 people, which are big figures, big numbers and such highly competitive, some would argue the most competitive sports landscape in the world being the United States.</s>ELAM: A companies are taking note. Some are finding branding opportunities, while others are opening early for a crowd eager to watch El Tree take on the world.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's all ages. It's a family oriented event.</s>BRYAN DE LA FUENTE, FORMER CHIVAS USA PLAYER: Beautiful to see all the nationalities, all the countries together watching the games.</s>ELAM: Bryan De La Fuente played in the American league, the MLS, for Chivas USA. Born in the U.S. but raised in Mexico, he says soccer, well, futbol, is part of his culture.</s>ELAM (on camera): Let's just say in the World Cup, in the final, it was Mexico</s>DE LA FUENTE: Yes.</s>ELAM: Who do you pick?</s>DE LA FUENTE: I can't tell you that.</s>ELAM (voice-over): Fans in two countries brought together by one ball.</s>COSTELLO: Stephanie Elam reporting. Mexico takes on Croatia at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, just in case you were wondering. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, as terrorists march toward Baghdad, American's top diplomat goes there to discuss Iraq's best defense. And John Kerry says it does not involve American guns or bullets. We'll talk about that next.