US President Joe Biden not only briefed his speech on Wednesday during his summit with African leaders in Washington, but also watched the Morocco-France match in the Qatar World Cup and praised the “wonderful” performance of the “Atlas Lions” team during the tournament.
“It was a great honor to watch the match alongside Moroccan Prime Minister (Aziz) Akhannouch,” Biden said on Twitter after the semi-final match, which ended with France’s 2-0 victory. “No matter which team you support, what this team has achieved is amazing.”
It was a great honor to watch today’s World Cup match alongside Prime Minister Akhannouch of Morocco.
No matter who you’re rooting for, it was remarkable to watch how much this team has been able to achieve. pic.twitter.com/5kC4zkT1HQ
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 14, 2022
And he attached his tweet with a picture of him sitting on a chair and surrounded by other leaders, in front of them a screen broadcasting the match when the score was 1-0 in favor of the French.
Before taking this football “break”, the US President made sure to address the match in his speech to an audience largely sympathetic to the first African team to reach this stage of the World Cup.
Biden said in front of about fifty heads of state and government, including the President of Liberia, George Weah, the former soccer star whose son Tim plays with the US national team, “I know you say to yourselves, Summarize, Biden, there is a semi-final match shortly, I realize that.”
His speech lasted only about 17 minutes.