The Vice President: Well
Mr. Secretary, Deputy
Administrator of Sports,
nice to see you here, and
your excellency, I think I
have to start off with
an admission; I
didn't play soccer.
I played that other
football from grade school
to college, and how
little I didn't know.
But I tell you what,
my children,
and my grandchildren have
changed all of that.
My son was the caption of
his soccer team, my girls,
I say my girls, my
granddaughters,
and my grandson, they all play
soccer, and they all asked
only one thing, I
literally, at Christmas
time, Mr. ambassador, I
always sit with the kids,
and I said, "where do you
want to go this year?"
Because one of the great
advantages of being
Vice President, I'm able to
take, if I'm not going
into a war zone, one of
my grandchildren with me.
And I do take them along,
they're good kids, they
don't get in the way, and
it's a great experience,
and the only thing all my
girls said is they want
to go to the World Cup.
And it's - it's an honor,
was an honor
to be at the last World Cup, and
watching Spain win.
There was the thrill to
actually come here,
and actually stand here with
the Cup, the real deal.
It's the first stop in its
tour, the first stop here
in America, and you know,
you have to attend a --
a World Cup to get - if you
ever wonder what it means
to people, it's -- it's
the most unusual sporting
event I've ever attended,
and I've attended
thousands, probably,
in my career.
It's - it's a feel, and
you can feel it even
before you get anywhere
near the stadium,
you can feel it before
you even land.
I mean, it's like -
it's in the air,
it's a palpable sense of energy
that I've never quite
experienced before, and it
is - it's consequential.
It maybe the most -- it is
the the most
consequential sporting event in
the world, and it's amazing
how not just interested,
but how deeply, deeply,
deeply passionate every
country is about
the World Cup.
You know, we have our
Super Bowl,
we have our World Series, we
have the NBA Finals,
we have March Madness, but my
lord, it is nothing quite
like the World Cup.
It not only brings
countries together,
it generates a sense of
enthusiasm that's hard
to believe, except
maybe the Olympics.
But even there, there
seems to be a greater
intensity among countries
about the World Cup.
It's like -- it's a measure
of --
how they measure measure themselves.
Sometime this summer, as
a player scores,
one in header from a - from a
placed, a well placed
corner kick, you're going
to hear, if you're able
to, you're going to hear
in every single corner
of the world, people
cheering, hollering,
and people in - it's like a
jolt of electricity that's
felt all around the world,
and, you know, it's the
sportsman's combination of
panic, exhilaration,
and depending on your team,
agony or ecstasy.
And it's going to be felt
in villages and major
cities, it's going to be
felt in every time zone,
every hour, every day and
night, in homes, bars,
offices, stadiums, for
tens of thousands
of people paint their faces,
sing their anthems,
and raise a banner.
You know, as John keeps
pointing out,
and Secretary Ryan, sports
does
bring people together.
And that's why diplomacy
practiced by John and Evan
in the State Department
is so good at connecting
people around the world.
And by the way, folks,
when it comes to Soccer,
America is coming on.
It's not been historically
been our game,
not withstanding that the
ambassador and John played
it, back when we were
in school 10 years ago.
(laughter)
But 25 million people
in the United States play soccer.
80 percent of them are
young people who will be
players and fans for years
to come, and our Major
League Soccer teams are
selling out stadiums, and
our national teams are
looking strong,
and the world should know, we're
coming ready to play,
and you know, we couldn't be
happier to see the World
Cup back in the Americas.
Mr. Ambassador, I was
recently in Chile at the
inauguration of President
Bachelet, and afterwards,
there was a State Dinner
for heads of state,
and semi heads of
state like me, and
(laughter)
I found myself - I found
myself sitting at a table
of a group of old friends.
The - Presidents of a
number of countries
in South America, and my
particular table,
I was there with the Peruvian
President, Columbia,
Haiti, Brazil, and the
Crown Prince of Spain,
whose explaining why
they won last time, and
(laughter)
Each one, John, bragging
about
their countries bonafides.
When's the first World
Cup, who scored when,
and this went on for the
entire, entire lunch,
this was absolutely true.
And President Rousseff,
she just sort of sat
there, and waited until
everybody finished,
and quietly said, by the way,
Brazil has won more
World Cups than any other
nation in history.
And - she said, and she
added the punctuation,
not just in this hemisphere,
was her point.
But in the world.
So it seems appropriate
that the World Cup
is going back to Brazil, and
it's a great honor,
it shows the great faith
everyone has in your
country, Mr. Ambassador,
and although my plans
are not yet final, I want you
to know I intend
to go the games.
I'm looking at my niece
Missy Owens, who works for
Coco-Cola, who will get
me a good seat if I go.
I'm not so sure, Missy,
you'll be able to help
me out, but it's an exciting
time for Brazil,
for the United States, and for
all soccer fans
all over the world.
I want to thank you -
thank you for bringing
the World Cup trophy to the
United States, and my
expectation hope is that
it will come back soon,
in the hands of our players,
rather than being
delivered by someone else.
So, with that, I'd like to
invite the secretary
to join me in unveiling
the trophy.
(applause)
(applause)
