President Barack Obama hosted the 2008 MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew at the Rose Garden on Monday, where he talked about the Crew's run and the support of their fans as well as the success of the United States National Team this summer.
"As some of you may know, I just got back from the G8 meeting in Italy, and one of the leaders there was President Lula da Silva of Brazil. He gave me a hard time about Team USA dropping a 2-0 lead in the Confederations Cup final, but I reminded him that we held our own against the best teams in the world, we shocked a lot of people, and we might just see that team in the World Cup next year.
So it's clear that soccer in America is on the rise -- and MLS is a big part of that."
The full text of President Obama's remarks is available here.
