Katie Couric's Notebook: World Cup Fever

British soccer manager Bill Shankly once said that his sport isn't a matter of life or death. It's more important.

And for most of the world, that rings true. It's a game that requires virtually no equipment, so anyone anywhere can play. From the Netherlands to Nigeria, its appeal is universal.

But the United States, with its preference for high-scoring sports, has been slow to catch the soccer bug.

Not anymore. In the early games of the World Cup, U.S. viewership was up 60 percent over four years ago. Fourteen and a half million Americans watched the U.S. tie England on June 12.

And yesterday, when Landon Donovan scored America's winning goal against Algeria in the final minutes of the game, cheers reportedly rang out on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in the White House, and right here at CBS.

Now, as the U.S. team advances to the second round, you can bet we'll be watching. It may not be life or death - but it's suddenly important and a lot of fun.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.