Finally, it feels like a World Cup.
All we needed was for South Korea to take the field for the first time. Until then, Seoul remained a quiet, peaceful part in the world’s most important sporting event. Sure, there are World Cup flags on every streetlight, soccer cocktails in hotel bars and buses adorned with team logos. But the World Cup amplifier went from 0 to 11 on Tuesday night, when thousands of Koreans took to the streets to watch their team play on big screens throughout the city. Conveniently for us, three such screens are just outside the CNN Seoul bureau. One crew (mine) took the easy way out; the other went down to the magical Han River.
Wearing red to match their side, rows and rows of mostly young people sat orderly on the sidewalks, as deep as three blocks from the high-tech TV mounted on the side of a tall building. Chanting in unison, oohing and ahhing every time their ultimate warriors touched the ball, leaping to their feet at any near chance, reaching fever pitch at both goals scored -- it was a journalist’s perfect opportunity. You could feel the wave of energy pushing the team to victory. As an American, it was frightening to sense the forces against us come next week.
Heading to U.S. vs. Portugal,
Joe McCurdy,
World Sport
