"Forever blowing bubbles" :P
Obama Wants U.S. to Host World Cup
The president begs organizers to bring soccer tourney to America
President Barack Obama just added another goal to his to-do list.
He is pushing for the World Cup to be held on American soil, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
The soccer fan-in-chief wrote a handwritten letter to the president of FIFA, the world soccer body, begging him to name the United States host to the global soccer tournament, which is held every four years.
“As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together,” Obama wrote in the letter, hand-delivered to Joseph S. Blatter.
Obama said that soccer brought his family closer, too -- Sasha and Malia Obama are both fans and play the game.
“As a father, I saw that same spirit of unity alive on the fields and sidelines of my own daughters’ soccer games in Chicago,” Obama wrote.
Obama also wrote that soccer was "truly, the world's sport."
“That is why this bid is about much more than a game,” the letter read.
“It is about the United States of America inviting the world to gather all across our great country in celebration of our common hopes and dreams.” (...)
(...)His public plea for the World Cup could hold some weight in FIFA's decision, experts said.
“The support of the president, who is extraordinarily popular around the world, is a huge plus,” Sunil Gulati, the president of the United States federation, told the Times.
The U.S. -- which last hosted the tournament in 1994 -- could host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup - the 2014 tournament is already slated to happen in Brazil.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/sports/more/Obama-Wants-US-to-Host-World-Cup.html
Obama and West Ham United (read below)
Obama Lends Weight to World Cup Bid
(...) the president might also work up some fealty toward a middle-of-the-table soccer team he once visited, West Ham, from the East End of London. (...)
(...) He has attended games involving his 10-year-old, Malia, in Chicago and in 2003 visited his half sister Auma in London and went to a match at West Ham, in the Premier League.(...)
(...) I went to West Ham on a cold, damp night in 2003, and the Hammers won in extra time, and the fans left singing their hopeful anthem, “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,” and a little bit of my American heart stayed with them.(...)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/sports/soccer/15vecsey.html?_r=1
Another World Cup in USA?
What do you think about it? Should they be allowed to host it or not? :/
