WEBVTT

00:02.000 --> 00:04.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
JUDY WOODRUFF: As we reported
earlier, it was a big moment for
the U.S. soccer program today,

00:04.800 --> 00:09.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
as the men's team won a
nail-biter to advance to the
knockout round of the World Cup.

00:11.833 --> 00:15.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
It is just the third time
the U.S. men have advanced
to the round of 16. And

00:17.133 --> 00:20.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
it is an important victory
after the team failed to
qualify for the last World Cup.

00:20.733 --> 00:24.233 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
Amna Nawaz looks at the
drama behind today's game.

00:24.233 --> 00:29.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
AMNA NAWAZ: Judy, by any
measure, this was a high-stakes
match. In a must-win game,

00:31.266 --> 00:35.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
the U.S. held on to win 1-0 and
stay alive in the World Cup. But
that tension was matched only

00:37.166 --> 00:41.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
by tensions off the field,
two geopolitical foes facing
off, and the Iran's team under

00:43.800 --> 00:46.933 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
a white hot spotlight
as anti-regime protests
in the name of Mahsa
Amini continue back home.

00:48.966 --> 00:52.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
For more on the game, the Cup
and the politics of it all.
I'm joined by J.J. Devaney,

00:54.133 --> 00:56.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
the co-host of the soccer
podcast "Caught Offside."

00:56.166 --> 00:58.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
J.J., welcome, and thank
you for being with us.

00:58.766 --> 01:03.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
I want to ask you first
about that game, that
glorious, heart-stopping,

01:03.166 --> 01:08.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
hard-fought game. The U.S. did
pull out a win in the end. What
stood out to you from the match?

01:10.533 --> 01:12.166 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
J.J. DEVANEY, Co-Host,
"Caught Offside": I thought
the dominance of the
first half performance.

01:12.166 --> 01:15.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
I thought that U.S.
midfield once again,
Musah, McKennie, Adams,

01:15.833 --> 01:19.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
we're going to be listing those
names like the founding fathers
by the end of the tournament.

01:19.900 --> 01:24.100 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
They were -- they were
fantastic. They are
the heartbeat of the
team. We got the goal.

01:24.100 --> 01:29.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
Christian Pulisic put himself
on the line, and then a second
half that was needlessly tough

01:31.033 --> 01:34.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
and turgid for the U.S.,
and Iran almost getting that
vital equalizer near the end.

01:36.266 --> 01:38.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
AMNA NAWAZ: Yes, second
half, it had me screaming at
the television quite a bit.

01:38.333 --> 01:41.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
But, when you look at this
team, this is a U.S. men's
national team that failed to

01:41.433 --> 01:46.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
even qualify for the World
Cup in 2018. How big a
moment is this win for them?

01:47.566 --> 01:49.633 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
J.J. DEVANEY: It's huge.
It's a huge moment.

01:49.633 --> 01:53.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
And when you take yourself back
to that moment when we didn't
qualify for Russia in 2018,

01:55.766 --> 01:59.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
the U.S. program was in turmoil.
And now it's a completely young
team. There's only one member

02:02.366 --> 02:05.466 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
of the 2014 World Cup site
that remains in DeAndre
Yedlin. So, the youth and
the fervor of this team,

02:07.466 --> 02:10.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
for them to get out of the
group at their first attempt
was very, very important.

02:10.500 --> 02:12.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
AMNA NAWAZ: J.J.,
as you well know,

02:12.600 --> 02:17.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
before a single minute was
even played, the politics
were part of this match.

02:19.033 --> 02:21.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
The protests back in Iran
are now in their 10th
week. The Iranian players

02:21.400 --> 02:25.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
in their very first match
did not sing along to
their national anthem.

02:27.433 --> 02:31.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
The U.S. soccer team briefly
posted an altered image
of Iran's flag without

02:33.133 --> 02:35.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
the emblem of the Islamic
Republic, they said in
support of Iranian women.

02:35.700 --> 02:40.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
Look, the games aren't
being played in a vacuum,
but are they usually
this politically charged?

02:41.400 --> 02:43.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
J.J. DEVANEY: Not really.

02:43.133 --> 02:47.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
I think this tournament
has really highlighted
politics in sport. It

02:47.600 --> 02:51.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
was always happening. Maybe
we weren't paying attention.
Maybe, with social media,

02:51.066 --> 02:56.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
we weren't so aware. But from
the minute, the spotlight
has been on Qatar as hosts,

02:57.433 --> 03:00.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
their human rights record,
their attitude to LGBTQ+ people.

03:02.300 --> 03:04.533 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
So, there was a
spotlight already on the
tournament. And then it

03:04.533 --> 03:06.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
was heightened when
the -- when, obviously,

03:06.566 --> 03:11.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
the Iranian protests continued
to really affect the team on
the field, and then, of course,

03:13.333 --> 03:16.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
the action that was taken by
the U.S. Soccer Federation, not
by the team. I should say that.

03:16.900 --> 03:21.633 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
The team were unaware of
the social media stance
that USSF would take.

03:21.633 --> 03:25.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
And I think it caught
them on the hop somewhat.
And Gregg Berhalter

03:25.300 --> 03:28.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
in that press conference
yesterday distanced the
team from that decision.

03:31.000 --> 03:34.133 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
But you're right. There's
a lot going on in this
World Cup, and even Serbia
and Albania involved in

03:37.300 --> 03:41.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
heightening that kind of
that -- that talk about
that regional dispute,

03:41.333 --> 03:46.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
the Serbians putting a
flag in their locker room

03:46.133 --> 03:51.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
before the Brazil game
with the flag of Serbia and
Kosovo superimposed over it.

03:52.433 --> 03:54.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
So this has been -- this
has been a tournament

03:54.533 --> 03:58.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
that really has highlighted
geopolitical issues, and
they have come to the fore.

03:58.266 --> 04:01.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned
that press conference
yesterday. That was fiery,

04:01.733 --> 04:06.166 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
to say the least. And you
saw Iranian journalists
in particular putting some
really tough questions

04:06.166 --> 04:10.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
to U.S. coach Gregg
Berhalter, also to the
U.S. captain, Tyler Adams.

04:10.233 --> 04:15.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
Adams was asked by one
journalist if he is OK
playing for a country
in which there is

04:17.300 --> 04:20.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
so much discrimination against
Black people. Adams said this
in response to that, in part.

04:20.433 --> 04:23.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
He said: "There's discrimination
everywhere you go. One
thing I have learned,

04:23.633 --> 04:27.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
especially from living abroad in
the past years, is having to fit
in different cultures and kind

04:27.633 --> 04:31.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
of assimilate into
different cultures. He
said: "In the U.S., we're
continuing to make progress

04:31.900 --> 04:36.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
every single day. I think, as
long as you see progress, that
is the most important thing."

04:38.066 --> 04:39.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
J.J., you have watched
a lot of these pre-match

04:39.600 --> 04:41.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
press conferences. What did
you make watching that one?

04:41.933 --> 04:44.500 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
J.J. DEVANEY: I thought it
was extremely aggressive,

04:44.500 --> 04:49.500 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
and not usually the kind
of topic that comes up
in a press conference, a
soccer press conference.

04:51.900 --> 04:55.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
I mean, the aggressive tone was
from the start. First of all,

04:55.000 --> 05:00.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
Adams was attacked in
terms of his -- the
way he pronounced Iran,

05:02.466 --> 05:07.033 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
and then taken to task
over the racial injustice
issues in the United
States. Gregg Berhalter was

05:09.100 --> 05:13.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
asked questions about the
position of U.S. Naval
fleets in the Persian Gulf.

05:13.433 --> 05:18.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
So this was really just a
kind of a -- I think it was
inflamed by the U.S. social

05:20.633 --> 05:25.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
media posts. And there seemed
to be some kind of backlash
from Iranian journalists,

05:25.300 --> 05:30.100 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
many of them state
journalists. But you don't
see that regularly. It's
never usually like that.

05:30.100 --> 05:32.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
AMNA NAWAZ: Of course, we
have many more games to go.

05:32.133 --> 05:34.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
So, look ahead for me.
The U.S. men's national
team will now face

05:34.733 --> 05:38.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
the Netherlands in the
next round, the knockout
rounds. Can they win?

05:38.200 --> 05:40.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
J.J. DEVANEY: Yes, they can.

05:40.200 --> 05:43.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
The Netherlands haven't
exactly pulled up any
trees. They did qualify with

05:43.800 --> 05:47.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
some ease out of their
group. But they haven't
quite been the team that we

05:47.733 --> 05:52.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
expected. They are vulnerable.
And the U.S. have proven that
they can control the ball,

05:52.233 --> 05:55.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
they can control the game.
Can they score enough
goals? That's the question.

05:55.100 --> 05:57.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
AMNA NAWAZ: That's the
question. We will be watching.

05:57.300 --> 06:02.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
J.J. Devaney, host of the
soccer podcast "Caught Offside,"
thank you for joining us.

06:02.200 --> 06:04.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
J.J. DEVANEY: Thanks
for having me.