World Cup: Joe Biden likes the Netherlands to win it all, or at least he hopes so

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Who knew the vice president of the United States was such a big soccer fan?

Or at least a fan of Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and the rest of the Dutch team?

Landing in Baghdad on Saturday to visit U.S. troops and talk with Iraqi leaders, Joe Biden told reporters “we hope the Netherlands wins the World Cup.”

Who the “we” was is unknown. Presumably it was not Americans of Spanish, Uruguayan or German descent, but perhaps Biden simply likes the way the Dutch play and favors them over the other three World Cup semifinalists.

Or maybe, as the Associated Press put it, it was because he was about to meet “chief U.S. diplomat, top American military commander and the U.S. envoy to Iraq, Ad Melkert, who is Dutch.”

Good thing Melkert isn’t Argentine. Who knows what Biden would have said then.

-- Grahame L. Jones in Cape Town, South Africa