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World Cup: Former President Clinton to stay for second round

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Former President Clinton enjoyed his visit with the U.S. World Cup team so much, he’s staying for the next game. In a meeting with reporters Thursday, Clinton said he changed his schedule so he can attend the Americans’ game against Ghana on Saturday in Rustenburg. The honorary chairman of the U.S. bid to host the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022, Clinton was in the stands for Wednesday’s thrilling 1-0 victory against Algeria that sent the United States on to the round of 16. He then spent more than half an hour in the locker room, celebrating with the team.

‘I lost my voice yesterday. I had to come home and drink hot tea with honey for an hour,’ Clinton said. ‘I was very diplomatic until we scored, and then I was up there screaming and yelling with everybody.’

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Clinton said he went down to the locker room to congratulate the players in what he expected with be a short visit. But he said that when the players asked him to stay and have a beer with them, he stuck around for about 45 minutes.

‘They said, ‘Hang around until we finish all this and drink a beer with us. Nobody ever does that.’ And so I said, ‘OK,’’ Clinton said. ‘... In the locker room, all they talked about is how they played as a team. The team wasn’t going to give up. The team. I was really impressed with that. I found them immensely impressive.’

-- Kevin Baxter in Johannesburg, South Africa

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