>> i'm 90. >> you're on your way to 70 in the next 10 years. what is russell simmonds doing at 65? >> i want to do the same thing as now. >> i am lease-- i am lisa fletcher t the world cup approaches. the popularity of soccer is as high as ever, putting incredibility expectations on team u.s.a. i sat down one on one with head coach of the u.s. men's national soccer team to talk about the pressure and controversy. you will hear from two u.s. players chosen to go to brazil. later, security forces preparing for the worst at the world cup. controversy swirling around who may be training them.

>> my digital producer is here bringing the feedback throughout the show. so much excitement percolating pretty much everywhere you go? >> "the stream" is kicking off world cup 2013. >> that's why they pay me big money. buzz says on twitter it will be one hell of a world cup but never better than south africa in 2014. an american journalist said the hubby is going to the world cup. i am going to brazil. he has a ticket, but i think the sport is going mainstream. >> it could be an outliar. the most watched sporting event away. team u.s.a. has one of the toughest firm rounds possible called "the group of death" facing off against the world's

best from germany, portugal, ghana and i talked about how he is prepping his players for brazil, making tough choices and mainstreaming soccer in america. >> coach, earlier this year, the espn sports neil tracks american interests in 31 sports discovered mainly league soccer had caught up to major league baseball in preference from 12 to 17-year-olds. how have you seen america's relationship with soccer change in that time? >> i think it's changed a lot. i think soccer really became a mainstream now. i am not saying it's competing now with american ball, basketball and baseball. i think it shouldn't be the goal to do that. i think soccer has a strong position now within the society obviously, you know, the lasting influence in the united statesba becomes bigger and bigger. they are all soccer-crazy, driven people.

and i think through the media, you know, television and obviously the internet, now kind of soccer is just all over the place as a normal thing to watch, you know and normal people see news on it and not only are the big three or four sports. it's come a long way. >> so results are ultimately the number 1 responsibility of the coach. but in your case, as coach of the u.s. men's national team, part of your responsibility and probably a great big part of your responsibility is promoting the popularity and the reach of the sport. been? >> it's not a challenge at all because you just see the game growing automatically and the youth level with millions of kids turning more and more toward soccer, you have a generation now of parents that actually played the game, too. so, it's easier for them to explain the game of soccer than a generation that maybe never played the game before. i think on a school, high school, and college level, it's very, very popular.

and then you -- i think the biggest part of t you have a professional league that is almost 20 years old that is getting bigger and stronger every year, attracts players from all over the world and gets more media attention. at the end of the day, the real driving force in soccer is the national team. it's on the women's side, which is very, very successful. but, obviously, especially on the men's side when it goes towards a world cup. the team becomes kind of the locomotive of the spor well. >> that's what we are going to t try to do this summer. >> one of the biggest pieces of news is the omission of landon donovan from the 23 man squad. here in the u.s., he is arguably one of the best players if not the best player in american history. does it run contrary to this idea of trying to grow the popularity of the sport in america when you are maybe the most popular guy? >> no. i mean first of all, he

remains, you know, a top, top player and keeps playing hopefully at the highest level for many years to go and hopeful back on the team after the world cup, god forbid if somebody gets injured, he might come back into the picture, but, you know, in sports, it's automatic. it's all down to performance. and i choose the players based upon performance and based upon how i want to put that together going to brazil. and in that particular case, now, there are others ahead of him, you know. so, it's a bitter pill for him to swallow. it's obviously a huge decision mediawise and fanwise because of what he has done and is 'til still doing for the game. but it's purely based upon performance. when i see him in this game and i see other ones just ahead the curve. so dallas always a point where somebody else is shooting by you and taking your sport. it's normal in professional sports or sports in

general. did it create waves? absolutely because of his big name and what he deserves, you know, throughout that last 15 years, what he has done for soccer in this country. if it's not him, it's the next one that will do as much as he country. >> speaking of some of the things he has done, when you made this announcement, it made waves all over the u.s., around the world and observers and writers have looked at this and said, well, maybe it's partly because of his poor performance at munich, maybe because he took, you know, three months off to find himself during world cup qualifiers. others have said, you know, it's just simple math. the guy is 32. there are men half his age that are the new up and comers. they need room on the roster and, you know, they need experience and what better experience than a spot at the world cup? did any of those things come into play in your decision? >> no. you monitor a marry over a longer period of time and he has been a long time. everybody notices up and down lake every other player as well.

when it gets down to kind of putting together the final pieces, you know, and a world cup roster you go through every single player and you tell, you kind of discuss it with your coaches and say, okay. what does he bring to the table, the other one. when you realize in his specific position now, mainly as a forward, i see four other guys ahead of him, it gets down to, okay. it will be a big announcement if you say that. in. so, it's not just based upon, you know, what may be kind of have been wrong for him when he played there in munich. not much we want wrong there. he did a very good job actually there. or in other moments where we kind of approach it differently. he made his choice to take a little bit of time off it took him a little longer to get back in the team. as soon as he is available, he

has to play. no. that's not how it works. he has to first get into a rhythm, play games, catch up once he catches up if he is okay, winning a goal cup last year. but you monitor everybody and his performapses and you kind of put that in a bigger context, the job of a coach and then you have to make a decision i made or we made based computer on how we see this team going to brazil, the strength or weaknesses and its hopefully working out well and we are responsible for the outcome at the end of the day as well. >> you have known profound success at every level of your career. you are one of german's greatest players, on the fifa 100 greatest living baller lists, world champion leader, you took the germs to a third place finish. you have had incredibly high expectations of yourself. what are your expectations of

the u.s. team and how do you gauge success? >> well, expectations are to get through the group, qualify for the knockout stage and really surprise people even more. we are in the most difficult group of all of the groups in brazil undoubtedly but there is a wondesh challenge, a wonderful opportunity, so expectations are clearer, you know, we have to advance. we have to find ways to advance germany. >> it's a huge win just to advance out of that round. >> yeah. i mean it would definitely give us more confidence than to hit the next one and then in a world cup, you never know. momentum. it's about who is on top of this game in that specific moment similar to sn olympicts every four years. you have to time it right. >> that's what we are trying to work on right now is to time it right. the peak comes in brazil when we go into the first game with

ghana and builds on, hopefully, a 3 point result for us on a win and takes the next one in line. the next one is portugal for us with christian ronaldo and german is one of the favorites for the title. anything is doable. anything is possible in soccer on a god-given day, i believe that this u.s. team, we can beat anybody out there. out. >> u.s. fans are standing up and cheering right now as you say that. so, you know, you have said that you deeply believe soccer in a certain way reflects the culture of a country. you have also said that in america, no one is completely american. how do you see american culture shaping this team? >> yes, because of, you know, the fact that america is a country of immigrants, is a melting pot, whatever generation you are in this country, you know, and this is the beauty of it. the beauty of it, you've ever changing face, you know, but with very strong roots in this nation.

and now, in a soccer team basically, it shifts in its face. it could be a more lattip style, more latin based players or european-based is a different style. more purely american based players and so it reflects actually in the country because there are so many different phases to the united states of america that that's what we all admire, you know, also from abroad, you know, that's what we love in america is no matter where you go, you will experience something completely different. you are going in the midwest or you go, i don't know, to san francisco or l a. or the east coast to new york and miami and so every place is so different. and it has it's own little culture basically in that place. and that's the same with a soccer team. a soccer team reflects a differently element of the guys that represent it appeared that's how it plays out. often, you can read a team based upon the players, what their background is and can predict

certain things based upon where they are coming from, how they grew up, you know, what shape their environment and neighborhood and so forth. and that's sometimes a good thing, sometimes might be a bad thing. it's fat in casing. i think soccer is just global in that way. it's not restricted to just one nation like maybe american fwaud football is a bit more just american, american, or baseball even though baseball is popular in other countries as well. it's just purely global and i mean i can tell you a lot about the german culture 7 members of the 23 have dual citizenship. this is a new element of the international game happening everywhere not just in the u.s. normal? >> for me, the new normal since 20 years. if you look back at the french team that worn the world cup in '98, for a lot of former african

colonies, you know, influence players winning at world cup, if it's the german team i develop toward 2006 with some polish german backgrounds, turkish or other current trees, so it is such agreeablization. soccer reflects agreeablization where, you know, people get married from all different kind of different backgrounds and they have kids and those kids come up, you know, and kind of in a 2-way street, mom this way and dad this way and figure it out. i think it's fascinating because it teaches us so much about what goes on in the world. if every one of those dual-citizenship players we have on the team, there are so many interesting stories behind that, yeah. >> another face that soccer has as well. >> coach, i will let you go. i have two quick questions for you from our viewers. quick answers if you don't mind. one of them from oscar john: what steps is the u.s. soccer federation taking to promote

soccer within the u.s. and what required? >> well, we have to kind of make it more and more popular everywhere on the kids' level and the school level. i think it's very popular in college level. you know, professional league as well. we have to grow it in all sorts of levels. and i think it's happening. >> last question: how effective is u.s. soccer at evaluating talent at the youth level? what's working, and what isn't? >> well, big country, big challenges because there are so many millions playing now, it's very difficult to idea all of them and see the best kids coming through the ranks. so we will always lose kids that we different see. so that's where we work a lot on the scouting side to find the best kids to help them grow the system and become exceptional players but that's a downside of a henley country. >> coach, thank you so much. >> irvery welcome. >> good luck to you? >> i need it. >> thank you very.

>> we will see how much they will need it. what will it take for team u.s.a. to go all the way? up next, two world cup players put their game face on and tell chance? >> i love the sundaydog role. i really do. i think it's a spot where you can really band together and say, it's us against the world. nobody believes in us. >> later: who is training brazilian security forces in upstate north carolina? stay right where you are.

excitement an team u.s.a. players heading to brazil but carlis carlisle. thanks for joining us. >> what will were some of you've initial thoughts i after hearing that interview? >> i thought the interview was typical klinsman. he is always upbeat, predicting great things for the future of u.s. soccer. certainly in terms of the growth of the game. i agree with a lot of what he said. in terms of landon donovan, i have to say donovan's omission from the roster is a mistake. it's donovan, one of the most experienced players this country has produced. he has had great suggestions in past world cups, playing at a

high level in my opinion, and when you look at some of the players klinsman who included is a 19-year-old julian green whose professional experience almost exists exclusively in the german fourth division. you have seep him in a couple of the warm up matches for the u.s., you know, looked a little bit tentative, a little bit overwhelmed, hasn't always been able to compete physically. he had some bright moments. once he gets on the field and gets his feet under him, he looks occasion, but to me, he doesn't look like a world cup player and when you put that up against the resume and quality and experience of a landon donovan, i think that the decision to 0 mitt donovan from the roster has damaged the team. >> you are echoing the sentiment of our community. it's been polarizing. saying he was past his primary. he goes, in colliklinsman, he said

it's the world cup. you take your best players. if you don't start them, good to have them on the bench. klinsman was right. he is not fit plus flew blood is better for long-term development. to give donovan some credit, maybe he was bloating that day. look, geoff. do you think with klinsman discussion to skew he is ord world cup 2018 and giving a pass? klinsman is a competitive idea so i don't entirely buy the thought that he is, you know, for the 2014, but i think the extension allowed him to take a little bit more risk and, you know, i think, you know, going with some of the younger players on the roster, i just think that's a mistake. i mean these tournaments only come around every four years. it's not like, you know, you are a club coach and you can build for the next season by bringing in some fresh blood. who knows where players like julian green are going to be in four years. obviously, with by ron munich right now.

it's a prestigeous club, one of the biggest in the world but, you know, i am of the belief that you take your 23 best players right now. and it's based upon what i have seen, i am not convinced that klinsman has done that. >> 2 of the best players spoke with us. soccer has been on the sidelines here in america for quite a long time. but that is definitely starting to change and essentially so according to u.s. cigars players kyle beckerman and tim howard. >> the biggest thing, it will take time. we are right now at the point where there are kids that are 20 years old since they have been born, there has been a soppinger team in their city. >> that's all they know. so they think of professional sports and they think basketball, ball, hockey and now soccer is there. and the more years that go be, happen. soccer. >> might grab the adeposition of somebody who is not in to soccer at all. the more and more time goes by

and now mls, 20 years this year but when it notes to 30, when it gets to 40, that's when these kids will start to become, you know, the best players in the world, the guys for europe are going to be wanting could here because the money is going to be here, the best soccer is going to be here. it's a matter of time. >> i signed in 1998 for the new york metro stars and back then, it was primitive he had. we have gone so far forward, you know, each team has their own stadium which was unheard of back then. that was not that long ago. each team has it's own supporter group. we have the casual fan going but the massive supporter groups style. >> speaking of popularity, julio says soccer is getting more popular. they can catch soccer from all over the world via youtube and social media. i believe the world cup rating states. >> well, there is not a lot of optimism coming from sports analysts and spectators around the world that team u.s.a. will advance farm. kyle and tim spoke what it will

be like competing against the group of death. >> i love the underdog role. i really do. i think it's a spot where you can really band together. you can say it's us against the world. nobody believes in us and you can feed off of that. it is a tough, extremely tough group, three great teams and but again, it wouldn't be called the group of death if we weren't worthy of that. if we can play our best game in each and every one of those games, there is no reason we can't win. >> there is so much to focus on, on the group games. you get there and it's another game. you have to play it like that. it's only after when you sit back and think, would you, i was a part of history. history. so, it's cool. it's a really defining moment in our careers. at the same time, we have to pretend like we have been there before even if we haven't, you know for some of the guys. >> so geoff, team u.s.a. has been involved in a number of friendly exhibition games leading up to the world cup. in jacksonville, they hit record ticket sales.

what's the future for soccer in the u.s.? >> i think the future is bright. you look at the growth of mls. you know, just in the last 10 years, you know, back in 2004, there were 10 teams, and now that the league is up to 19 and, you know, they have signed on some additional expansion teams in places like orlando and new york, and again, there is no magic bullet in terms of accelerating the popularity. it will take a lot of intelligent decisions on the part of the games, you know, stake holders, administrate orders, be it u.s. soccer or mls. i have to give mls credit. they made i wintelligent decisi in terms of picking expansion markets, trying to maintain the level of play and it's a continued challenge, but, you know, when you think back to 10 years ago, i think in terms of popularity, i think in terms of media awareness, the game is advanced in order of magnitude.

it's been impressive. >> thank you for joining us. still ahead, an american firm with a controversial pass may be training brazilian security forces in anti-terrorism. we have all of the details next. >> misbehaving children locked up doing time while they should be in school. >> they have to prepare for jail >> throwing away our future >> we're using the same failed policies in districts throughout the country >> are we failing our kids? fault lines al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> they're locking the doors... >> ground breaking... >> we have to get out of here... >> truth seeking... award winning investigative documentary series fault lines the school to prison pipeline only on al jazeera america

>> we know back. joining us on skype is join ber hov, an expert on politics and sports, a former professional sao paolo who broke a story claiming the no doubt military firm academy formerly known as blackwater was training brazilian security for the world cup. black water was blamed for the 2007 square massacre in iraq that left seventeen iraqi

civilians dead and 20 injured. the state department and academy deny academy involvement in the receipt training. thank you for joining us. atricia what was the most come peeing evidence you discovered that indicated acadd me may be training brazilian security for the world cup? >> first of all, i spoke to several blarneys, military officers who were buying trained at the academy headquarters. they said they were trained by former black water employees. and afterwards, i spoke to state department of people here off of the record and they confirmed that this was academy training. >> well, we have our community here komol went to brazil at the end of december, beginning of december. the country is definitely not ready for the world cup and says i am tore about being excited and being up said by the heavy handed tactics they have used to break up protests.

check this out, need food not fuel. $900 million on security. a lot of people are saying they are using the world cup as pretext to actually crack down on activists. what's your thought on that? >> well, we are certainly seeing the ramping up of militarization of the public sphere in rio and in brazil i can't and across the country. we have seen that. so, i think there is good grounds for arguing they are using it as an opportunity. police officers used things like the olympics, their atm getting all of the weaponry they wouldn't be able to get during normal political times. we are seeing that in brazil. >> so, jewels, at the world cup, politics aside or do we see globe conflicts play out on the >>d? i think it's compartmentmentalized. these are highly professional ball squads. i think we will see some outside the stadium absolutely. >> that's what protesters are trying to raise here i actually thought one of the people that tweed in made an important and interesting

point, essentially saying we need not to the devote ourselves to the depth of complexity. we can appreciate the games, admire the incredible athletic skill on the field across brazil and at the same time, ask difficult questions about the way the games are being organized from the top, sort of a plutocratic puppet master of fifa to the ground floor where you have these security officials outside the stayed laws. >> thanks to our guests for joining us. atricia campos, angelap boy cough and the men's soccer team, we wish you the best of luck at the world cup. until next time, raj and i will see you on online.

>> we're here at the darrington unit, which is a maximum security prison on the outskirts of texas. >> jimarquez holland is 20 years old. he's been imprisoned here for three years. >> to me, i feel like what i was doing was petty. petty crimes - i never thought in a million years that i would be 17 and in prison. never thought. whenever the judges said, we