The FIFA World Cup 2022 seems to be just giving and giving. We soccer fans had been waiting for the tournament for four years and it hasn’t disappointed us one bit. There have been many underdog stories so far in this year’s World Cup. And at the same time, there have been teams who had high hopes as well. The USA is surely one of them. Although they didn’t have the best team at the tournament, many still expected them to do well.
With the likes of Sergino Dest, Timothy Weah, Christian Pulisic, and Gio Reyna on their roster, fans believed that the young talents could lead the USA to a good finish at the World Cup. However, all those hopes were shattered today after the country’s loss to the Netherlands in the round of 16.
The USMNT’s World Cup run ends in the Round of 16 after falling to the Netherlands 3-1. pic.twitter.com/NaYyMfbop1
— ESPN (@espn) December 3, 2022
The game ended 3-1 after Louis van Gaal’s men got the goals through Memphis Depay, Daley Blind, and Denzel Dumfries. The goal from Haji Wright, the player who has had a tough time with fans, proved to be just a consolation when the Netherlands was leading 2-0. However, it seems like fans are taking this opportunity to mock the USA, and even their president, Joe Biden, who celebrated USA’s last win.
Joe Biden called it “Soccer,” non-Americans disagree
The USA’s president, Joe Biden posted a video on Twitter with the intention of motivating the USMNT. In the video, he appears to be catching the ball after USMNT captain Tyler Adams kicked it.
Good kick, @tyler_adams14.
Let’s go @USMNT! pic.twitter.com/lEPC0UHXlI
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 3, 2022
Together with that, Biden also says, “It’s called soccer. Go USA! You guys are going to do it.” The video was posted before the game against the Netherlands, and it seems like fans have taken this opportunity to mock Joe Biden.
Sorry Joe, football won. 😉#NEDUSA @OnsOranje https://t.co/v27gYK7niv
— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) December 3, 2022
Apart from fans, the Netherlands’ Prime Minister, Mark Rutte has also decided to take the mick out of Biden and USA. He tweeted, “Sorry Joe, football won,” after his country won at the World Cup.
Next time you guys can play football instead of soccer, mr president. https://t.co/WwWRl1QQg7
— rodrigo borges (@rodbgs) December 3, 2022
FOOTBALL won today https://t.co/iIR9CWdC9F pic.twitter.com/9RtDuFdRLC
— Prajwal ||🜃 (@28_09_2023) December 3, 2022
Guess it’s not called soccer after all. #NEDUSA https://t.co/LFe8WcxNzm pic.twitter.com/9JSFL8HllR
— 🎄𝖊𝖒𝖒𝖆 🔮 (blue tick) (@_thisisemma) December 3, 2022
This whole “It’s called soccer” is so embarrassing imo.
— Kobe Zeller 💙 (@KobeZeller) December 3, 2022
— Dr. Pedro Amorim e Bourbon de Linhaça (@EuSouZarolho) December 3, 2022
It seems like Joe Biden’s decision to call the sport “Soccer” didn’t go down well with the fans online. Many have called him out and the rest of the country for deciding to call the beautiful game with different name than what the whole world calls it. Some have even tried to mention that it should be called “Football” mainly because the players use their feet.
The debate about what to call the sport has been going on for decades. It doesn’t look like it would any time soon as well. Whenever the USMNT loses, the world makes it a point to mention that Americans should not call it “Soccer”. It was no different in Joe Biden’s case. Fans believe that America should now call it “Football” after losing at the World Cup.