World Cup 2006

Washington Post soccer writer Camille Powell was online Monday, June 12, at 10 a.m. ET to chat about this year's World Cup. Powell was live from Germany to take your questions before the match between the United States and the Czech Republic takes place.

Post Coverage: World Cup 2006

Blog: World Cup Journal

The transcript follows.

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Camille Powell: Greetings from Gelsenkirchen, where the U.S. will play the Czech Republic in a little less than 2 hours. This small city (population: 274,000) is overrun with fans from both countries -- most of whom seem to be wearing bright red. I spent a couple of hours hanging out near the train station, where the American fans have taken over the Brauhaus Hibernia. It's great to see that the Americans are just like everyone else -- they wear silly hats, tie flags around their shoulders like capes, and sing songs.

Sorry for the delay -- we had a bit of a time mix-up. Let's get started...

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Washington, D.C.: I've been reading and hearing a lot about the huge contingent of English fans and others at the Cup. How's the American presence? Don't know if you're in Gelsenkirchen today, but what's the atmosphere like for the U.S. team's match today?

Camille Powell: I was surprised by the American presence here, though it looks like they'll still be outnumbered by the Czechs (who have a much shorter distance to travel). I talked to some fans who said that they've been treated really well as Americans, but that they've been surprised by the lack of respect the soccer team gets. But the Americans appear to be representing themselves quite well, in terms of sound, costumes, and beer consumed.

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Warrenton, Va.: I wonder how many viewers of the World Cup in the USA are as disgusted as I am with the generally very poor quality of the commentary. It's so bad that I have been tuning to Univision to watch the games. I can't understand what's being said but at least it's not as distracting as the U.S. commentators are. Yesterday during an exciting part of the Mexico/Iran game the commentator talked for fully two minutes about the Mexican presidential elections. In the England/Paraguay game the guy doing the commentary didn't even know the name of the England captain, for goodnesss sakes.

Can't those guys understand that we tune in to watch the game -- not to listen to their mindless ramblings?

Camille Powell: I haven't been able to see/listen to any of the US television coverage, and to be honest, I'm not too disappointed. One of the best things about living in Japan during the 2002 cup was that we got the British television feeds, which were soooo better. I think that one of the problems with broadcasting soccer in the US is who do you gear your coverage towards? The sophisticated soccer fan, who understands the game and knows the players, and wants to see a wider view of the pitch (as opposed to constant close-ups of players/coaches/etc). Or the average sports fan, who maybe needs a little more context? I hear your complaint a lot from soccer fans.

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Arlington, Va.: Will Landon Donovan leave Germany during the World Cup if he misses his girlfriend? Does Bruce Arena have a contingency plan for this?

Camille Powell: Actually, he left today and is not playing.

Just kidding. I imagine Landon can afford to fly his girlfriend to Germany.

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Wishing I were in Germany: Quick question - are the commentators from ABC/ESPN actually in Germany to call the games this year, or are they in their studios here in the US calling the games like last World Cup? From Saturday's games, it seems that the ABC/ESPN feed was delayed compared to Telemundo's. Have fun!

Camille Powell: For most games, they are here in Germany. They are definitely here for the US games. For a couple of other games, they're back in the US.

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Washington, D.C.: What's with the earpieces and microphones the refs are wearing on the field? Who are they talking to?

Camille Powell: The referees use the earpieces and microphones to talk to the linesmen.

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Normal, Ill.: Reception of the US team has been hostile in recent tournaments-e.g. the US national anthem was booed all the way through duing the 2003 Confederations Cup; in a qualification match with Mexico fans were chanting 'Osama, Osama'. What sort of reception would you expect during today's matchand future matches, based on your experiences so far? What are Germans doing to prevent or disencourage such activity?

Camille Powell: I don't expect the reaction to the US team to be overly or unusually negative today. However, if they happen to play Mexico.... The American fans in town seemed to be very well-received by the Czechs, German, British, etc. In fact, the only time I heard any boos today was when a man walked through the crowd carrying a Mexico flag. The Americans booed and shouted, "Go home!"

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Normal, Ill.: There has been lot of attention on the U.S. press (and in other countries) on the potential for racist violence and general soccer hooliganism. Michael Wilbon went has far as to say he had decided not to go because of potential dangers to blacks. What's your assessemnt of the situation? Is the U.S. press making too much of this, or is the issue of justified concern?

I've read a lot that Germany seems to be encouraging people to visit without any tickets for the matches or plans to actually attend matches. Could this, combined with alcohol, result in some ugly scences?

Camille Powell: There was a lot of coverage prior to the World Cup about the potential for racist violence and hooliganism, and rightfully so since it has been a problem in the past. But I haven't seen anything so far that I would classify as ugly. Any time you have large groups of people consuming alcohol, there's the potential for disaster. There's a pretty strong police presence here.

One of the things I like best about this Cup so far is the way that the Germans have encouraged people to watch the games together (that's a change from what I saw in Japan in 2002). Every city I've been to has public viewing areas, and in Cologne yesterday, cafes set up TV's in their windows so the people sitting outside on the patio could watch.

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Buffalo, N.Y.: I agree with the earlier post regarding ABC/ESPN commentators. Marcelo Balboa may have been a great player, but he is terrible on tv. John Harkes was only slightly better.

Camille Powell: Lots of comments about the poor quality of American TV commentators...

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Downtown Washington, D.C.: "But the Americans appear to be representing themselves quite well, in terms of sound, costumes, and beer consumed." Now you've got me curious. What's an "American" costume?

And can I say how much I like the name "Brauhaus Hibernia"? I think we could use one of those here in Washington.

Camille Powell: I found one guy wearing the ultimate American costume -- Uncle Sam minus the beard. He had the top hat, red and white striped pants, blue vest, blue coat.... He was stopped every thirty seconds by people (American and Czech and German) who wanted to have their picture taken with him. I went over to interview him and it turned out he's British! He went to a fancy dress shop in England after consuming a few beers and left with the outfit. He's going to the game today.

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Arlington, Va.: Regarding the poor US TV coverage: If you have the right satellite dish or go to a bar that has access, you can watch the superior Canadian Wold Cup coverage on TSN and Rogers Sports Net. They have an excellent pre-game show and analysis, then they use the World Feed (not BBC) with British announcers. There is one announcer for each game, and their commentary is far superior to ESPN/ABC. They also show al the pre-game ceremonies with flags and anthems that the English language US coverage ignores.

Camille Powell: a suggestion for people who are tired of the US TV coverage...

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San Angelo, Tex.: Why is it that Americans don't get soccer? I mean, a billion people can't be wrong.

Camille Powell: That's the $25,000 question... What I tell my non-soccer friends is that if they want to understand what the fuss is, turn into the World Cup or better yet go to Europe (you don't even have to go to the country that's hosting it) during the Cup. The atmosphere is electric, and you're getting to watch the best players in the world (something you can't say about an MLS game).

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Arlington, Va.: With the games being played in the mornings and early afternoon, why are there no broadcasts over the internet?

Camille Powell: I believe that FIFA prohibits broadcast over the internet because of the agreements they have with their television partners. But I've heard that in England, you can get broadcasts of non-English games on the BBC site. But only in England.

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Chicago, Ill.: How does this World Cup compare to the other ones you've been too (France and Japan) in terms of atmosphere, games, etc.?

Kerri

PS - Tell Rebecca I said hi!

Camille Powell: Hi Kerri! The atmosphere at this World Cup has certainly been more intense than what I saw in Japan. But that WC suffered a little because it was so far and so expensive -- the only people who went to Japan were the people who actually had tickets. This time, there are plenty of people here who don't have tickets. And as I mentioned earlier, the Germans have done a really good job of creating fan-friendly areas in the cities. I went to France '98 after the first round, and it was very cool because the French were doing so well.

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Washington D.C. (the Korean Embassy): The Embassy of the Republic of Korea is hosting a broadcasting event for live coverage of 2006 World Cup match for both Korea team and US team. We saw a question regarding this on June 8. Is there anyway we let the person know about this? The detail of the event is on our Web site www.dynamic-korea.com

Camille Powell: Here's one place to watch the games...

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Washington, D.C.: Who would you say is the "fan favorite" (a minnow whom everyone seems to love)? Trinidad? Maybe Ivory Coast? I was in Paris for France 1998 and I remember tons of fans sporting Jamaica shirts.

Camille Powell: I think that Trinidad is poised to become the fan favorite, particularly after their positive result against Sweden. I've read that the Tartan Army -- Scotland's supporters -- have adopted them as their own (Scotland didn't qualify), mainly to root for them when they play England (Thursday). Trinidad is so small, plus they've got the good music...

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Arlington, Va.: Camille - when will you be getting to Berlin? I was in Berlin and Leipzig from May 21-30, and it felt like mid-March. Cold and rainy, temps never above 65, many days in the 50s. Now all I here about is the fantastic, warm weather in Germany. Berlin was getting quite dressed up for the World Cup, with a large soccer ball being built by the Brandenburg Gate and a temporary structure covered in a canvass to look like Olympia Stadion being placed in front of the Reichstag. I got to go inside Olympia Stadion and you just see the histoy of the place right in front of you and its very easy to imagine Jesse Owens crossing the finish line as you look inside the place.

Now, after having seen Germany, England, Argentina and Netherlands in their openers, which looked the most inpressive to you?

Camille Powell: I won't make it to Berlin until next week. When I got to Munich last week, it was chilly and gray and a little drizzly. A German journalist assured me that this current run of sun and warmth won't last, and that it'll rain on Wednesday.

One of the things about covering this event is that it's hard to watch some of the other games. I saw bits and pieces of Germany (I still haven't seen the great first goal, since I was walking into the Italian training facility at the time), and I was writing my story during the Argentina game. I'll see England and the Dutch in person later this week.

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Savigliano, Italy : I am an American living in Italy and the football(soccer) passion goes beyond reason at times. I am cheering for the USA team especially against the Czechs'. Many of the Italian newspaper(La Stampa) are calling this game the most important in the grouping. Getting pass the one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Cech, will be a huge challenge for the States. But as my Italians friends say the Czech have their injuries and the Americans have nothing to lose. The Italians on the most part want to come in 2nd in the grouping to avoid Brazil and will be cheering on America. The pressure on the european players in the press/tv is pretty tough and thank goodness the USA team is not under the same pressure and that could make the difference. The American team is a bit of a question mark so most Italians will be watching the game. The Italians are looking for a win tonight but no one has forgotten their lost to North Korea some years ago in the world cup in England.

Camille Powell: A comment from Italy. The Italian fans I talked to out at the training match last week seemed much more concerned about the Czechs than the US.

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Metro Washington, D.C.: Tuned into the England-Paraguay match on Saturday on ABC (husband is English and I lived there for 8 years). We couldn't believe the ineptitude of the commentators! They got Beckham's name wrong twice (referring to him as "Michael" Beckham and even "Beckon" during the game) and then mistakenly called England "Germany". Michael Beckham: could be a combination of Michael Owen and David Beckham resulting in the world's best-looking and most talented footballer ever!!

Camille Powell: Ooh, Michael Beckham...

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US fans: I wonder if part of US apathy towards soccer is due to the generally lower quality of play in MLS. Don't get me wrong, I support MLS, but watching DC United last night after watching the World Cup this weekend underscored the wide gulf between European soccer and MLS. One cannot realistically expect most Americans to get into watching European teams with no local rooting interest.

Camille Powell: This is an interesting point, and one I heard several times when talking to soccer observers for a story I did last week. Eric Wynalda was particularly emphatic in saying that you can't force-feed American fans a bad product. When you sell the NBA, NFL, MLB, you can sell the idea that you are watching the best players in the world. You certainly can't say that about MLS.

When talking to fans today, it seemed as if most of them followed the EPL more closely than MLS. With the internet, Fox Soccer Channel, Gol TV, it's become much easier for people here to follow the top leagues in the world.

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"Why don't Americans get soccer?": I think part of the reason some Americans don't get soccer is that the attitude of the so-called "soccer snobs" turns them off. Certainly not all soccer fans are like that, but it makes me wince when someone "corrects" someone who calls it soccer, or says that Americans are "unsophisticated" for not watching soccer (yeh, insult people, great way to get support), or is aggressive in "correcting" people who don't use terminology that some soccer fans consider important (e.g., "match" instead of "game," although I listen to the BBC and they use "game" quite a bit so I don't think "match" is important), or acts as though someone must STOP watching other sports when one starts watching soccer.

Bottom line, there are a fair number of soccer fans who have a chip on their shoulder about it, and it doesn't help. It's far better to try to EXPLAIN the rules to someone than to act as though someone is a dunce for not getting it. When I explain that the purpose of the offside rule is similar to the rule in hockey--to prevent offensive players from standing around the goal waiting for a long pass--it suddenly makes a lot more sense to them.

Camille Powell: This is something that I often hear from non-soccer fans. I believe Tony Kornheiser likes to refer to the "soccer poets."

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Ashburn, Va.: I may have missed this, but has Coach B. announced his starting 11?

Camille Powell: Just got the start lists for the game:

Baros is not starting for the Czechs.

For the US:

Keller

Mastoreni, Cherundolo, Lewis, Pope, Onyewu

Reyna, Convey, Beasely, Donovan

McBride

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Camille Powell: Once again, I'm sorry for the late start. I've got to run -- it sometimes takes 40 minutes to get through security to get into the stadium and I need to be in my seat before kickoff. Thanks for the great questions. Steve Goff will be online on Tuesday to talk all about the US-Czech match. Enjoy the game!

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