World Cup: Lakers’ Kobe Bryant takes in some soccer

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Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who grew up playing soccer, is taking in some World Cup games on his first trip to Africa. Bryant watched the U.S. loss to Ghana on Saturday and said, next, he would like to see Brazil play. The five-time World Cup champion meets Chile on Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Bryant also visited young soccer players on a Nike-sponsored visit to a training center in the black township of Soweto.

Bryant grew up playing soccer — as well as basketball — as a boy in Italy.

-- Kevin Baxter in Johannesburg, South Africa

Kobe Bryant joins young soccer players at the Football Training Centre in Soweto neighborhood of Johannesburg, South Africa, for a Nike-sponsored event on June 27, 2010. Credit: Dominic Barnardt / Getty Images for Nike