Intro:

USA head coach Jürgen Klinsmann said he was 'excited' after millions of Americans stopped work early to watch their national football team get edged out of the World Cup by Belgium in a thrilling match in Brazil on Tuesday.

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English) Jürgen Klinsmann, US football team head coach:

"I'm very excited about, you know, seeing soccer, breaking through or getting just a lot of recognition in the United States now, a lot of people being on TV or at fan festivals you know, watching the games and getting that connection to millions of people. The game has always been very very popular in the United States, you know millions of children play soccer, it's popular in high school, college and league now, professional league that does tremendously well, being built since 20 years, getting better and better. I think at the end of the day, like in every country, the locomotive of getting to the next level is the national team. The national team, whenever comes a world cup along, has to do well, has to inspire, you know, their home country to jump on board and I think this team now inspired, you know, the fans back at home, you know, to jump on board and have fun, enjoy those dramatic games that they saw and...

That all shows you that soccer is breaking through and that is the deserved recognition, without taking anything away from the other big American sports."