On Monday, President Obama got the U.S. campaign off to a start that Blatter conceded “merits a compliment” — demonstrating his own appreciation for “the beautiful game” by dribbling a soccer ball that Blatter had presented him in the Oval Office.
Blatter said afterward that Obama, whose basketball prowess is well-known, isn’t ready for a spot on the U.S. national team. But, he joked, Obama probably could have made the second-tier U.S. squad that was trounced by Mexico, 5-0, in the CONCACAF Gold Cup match he attended Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J., as part of his four-day visit to the United States.
The key item on Blatter’s U.S. tour was the meeting with Obama, in which they discussed ways of strengthening soccer in the United States. Blatter called it “a great encounter.”
Maybe Pete Souza will offer us some shots on the official White House Flickr stream.
Blatter also formally invited President Obama to attend the World Cup, and said POTUS has instructed aides to check his schedule.
Mr. President, I hereby volunteer to buy you a Castle Lager if you decide to attend.
Anyway, conditions look right for the United States to host in 2018, at least as far as FIFA’s normal rotation goes. However, Blatter said a lot of the Europeans in FIFA think that the Continent should host every third tournament. Which is dumb. Screw Europe.
And I don’t need to remind Blatter who can put asses in seats:
[Blatter] accentuated the positives when asked if the country’s inability to capitalize on the 1994 World Cup should count against it in the next round of voting.
“Yes, it has not had the impact we expected,” Blatter conceded. “But it was the first World Cup organization, and so far the only one, where all tickets were sold, and all seats were occupied. So this is a good legacy of the organizational skill of the United States.”
Yer darn tootin’.
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