2014 World Cup: Vice President Joe Biden to watch USA against Ghana in Brazil tournament?

Published on: 15 April 2014
2014 World Cup: Vice President Joe Biden to watch USA against Ghana in Brazil tournament?
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, look to the crowd after unveiling the FIFA World Cup Trophy on Monday during a ceremony at the U.S. State Department in Washington, DC celebrating the trophy’s first stop on a world tour that will eventually end up in Brazil for this year’s World Cup.

The United States could be boosted by the presence of the Vice President Joseph Biden when they play Ghana in their opening match of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil in June.

Mr Biden will travel to Brazil this June to cheer on the U.S. national team in the World Cup, the White House said Monday when Biden and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry unveiled the FIFA World Cup trophy.

Mr. Biden will attend one of the U.S. team’s games, but that’s all that’s known at this time.

In group play, the United States plays Ghana on June 16 in the city of Natal, Portugal, on June 22 in Manaus and Germany on June 26 in Recife.

The tough draw has been labeled the dreaded “Group of Death.” Ghana played a key role in the U.S. team’s departure from the last two World Cups, and Germany is a perennial superpower.

"When it comes to soccer, America is coming on," Biden assured Monday's audience at the State Department, where the 2014 World Cup trophy made its first stop in the United States as part of a global tour before heading later to Brazil.

"It's not historically been our game ... but 25 million people in the United States play soccer, 80 per cent of them are young people who will be players and fans for years to come," Biden said.

"The world should know, we're coming ready to play."

With only nine weeks remaining before the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, coach Jurgen Klinsmann's United States currently stands 13 in FIFA's rankings.

Biden, who joked he was angling to get prime seats for himself and his granddaughters to watch some matches, said World Cup fever was "like a jolt of electricity that's felt all around the world."

He told the tour organisers that he wanted to thank them "for bringing the World Cup trophy to the United States, and my expectation and hope is that it will come back soon in the hands of our players, rather than being delivered by someone else."

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