Washington - US President Barack Obama told America's World Cup heroes on Thursday that the West Wing of the White House erupted in cheers when Landon Donovan scored the dramatic winning goal against Algeria.Obama called the jubilant United States team as they prepared for their round-of-16 knockout clash with Ghana on Saturday.The president told the team that he was in a high-stakes meeting with new Afghan war commander General David Petraeus in the Oval Office when the injury time winner went in, and could "hear the rest of the West Wing erupt"."The president then congratulated Donovan on the game-winning goal, asked Tim Howard how his ribs were feeling and asked Clint Dempsey how his lip was doing," Obama's spokesperson Robert Gibbs said.Cheering them on"The president wished the team good luck on Saturday and made sure they knew that the entire country was cheering them on."The Americans beat Algeria 1-0 on Wednesday, and will face Ghana in the round-of-16 match in Rustenburg on Saturday and are now eyeing a deep run in the tournament.Some members of the US team stopped at the White House before travelling to South Africa and are not lacking for presidential support in a campaign that has attracted rare public fervour back home.Former president Bill Clinton watched their triumph over Algeria, and Vice President Joe Biden also travelled to South Africa, to watch them play England, a match that ended in a 1-1 draw.
Follow Sport24 on Twitter and Facebook
Your Name
* Your Email
* Recipient's name
* Recipient's email
Your message
If you want to email this page to more than one person, just put a semicolon ";" between the email addresses. * = Compulsory
24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.
Yes - it's just back to daily life now
Sort of - I will feel better each passing day
No - I miss the vibe and bustle so much it hurts
Don't care - didn't get into it anyway
View Results | Vote Archive
36% Yes - it's just back to daily life now
20% Sort of - I will feel better each passing day
33% No - I miss the vibe and bustle so much it hurts
11% Don't care - didn't get into it anyway
Vote Archive
Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter
Newsletters Sign up for Sport24's Morning Glory newsletter
Blogs Yes your opinion counts. Get it out there
WIN Enter and win with Sport24!
Mobile Sport24 on your mobile phone - WAP, alerts, downloads, services
BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry
iPhone Latest Sport24 news on your iPhone
Facebook "Like" Sport24's Facebook page
TV schedule Plan your couch time with our searchable sport TV guide
RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.