Bush phoned them up? That's very good news for Germany on Friday.

I imagine the undercurrent of yank-bashing over this may come from a feeling that the reason that America stays aloof from things like this is because it's a game where the Americans are the underdogs and the likelihood is defeat. (These of course being the very reasons for backing a team.)

Which I don't think is fair - as I've pointed out in another thread, Soccer, for some unclear reason, has never been a particularly popular sport in most English speaking countries, apart from England and Scotland. (Ireland isn't really an exception - it's a minority game which has gained majority support because of having a great team. The same is true of the USA, so far as the team is concerned - and I imagine the wave of majority support for them will be forthcoming soon enough.)