At 0-22-1 at the Azteca you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure the odds of the US winning against Mexico is slim. And Obama is known to be a voracious reader of sports stats which makes me believe that he is aware of this record.
So he is quite realistic when asked about the chances of winning against Mexico.
“I wouldn’t bet any money on it.”
He could have easily chosen a more jingoistic tone which probably would have scored a few points with Landon Donovan.
This is also some smart football diplomacy involved as Obama prepares to fly to Mexico City for the North American Leaders’ Summit where he will meet Mexico’s Felipe Calderon and Canada’s Steve Harper. There are plenty of sticky issues but none more than the drug wars in Mexico that have ravaged that country claiming more than 12,000 lives in less than three years. Dealing with this huge problem has tested the goodwill of both countries. Mexico has pointed to the huge number of weapons coming over the border as a prime reason for the huge spike in homicides and have complained about not getting enough cooperation.
Here is an assessment that most pundits can agree with on the Confederations Cup performance and one that shows that Obama keeps his ears tuned to anything on the sport.
“Certainly we’ve improved,” Obama said of the U.S. team. “We almost beat Brazil.”