KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Dom Dwyer already has made no secret of his interest in playing for the United States someday. On Wednesday, Sporting Kansas City's young English forward will get to meet his nearly adopted country's chief executive.
Any chance that Dwyer might ask President Obama for a fast-track on his naturalization?
“Maybe,” Dwyer said with a grin. “I'll be like, 'Can you just get me a passport real quick?' Hopefully, he'll help me out. Maybe I'll be there, me and him, after we win the World Cup. You never know.”
All joking – or half-joking, perhaps – aside, Dwyer told MLSsoccer.com on Tuesday that he hopes to put his own unique stamp on Wednesday's White House visit, when Sporting's players from their 2013 MLS Cup victory will be honored in a ceremony two days ahead of their big Eastern Conference matchup with D.C. United.
“I'm so excited for it,” he said. “My goal for the whole trip is to take a selfie with Obama. So that's the plan.”
Center back and Sporting captain Matt Besler has already represented the US, most recently at this summer's World Cup in Brazil, but this will be his first time to meet the president.
“I haven't spent much time in D.C.,” he said. “The friendly we played against Germany two summers ago was in D.C., so we spent five or six days staying right around all the historic buildings. So I got to experience a little bit of that, and I enjoyed it.”
For others, this won't be their first White House trip – although for manager Peter Vermes, it's been a while since he crossed the threshold at 1600 Pennsylvania.
“It's a big deal, obviously,” said Vermes, who met then-President Reagan as a member of the 1988 US Olympic team. “You're going to the White House. It's definitely a moment in your life that not everyone gets to do. But you do, and you've got to make sure that you enjoy it.”
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Winger Jacob Peterson's visit was more recent; he got to meet the second President Bush in the early 2000s after his Indiana team won back-to-back NCAA titles. And Peterson, who wears his patriotism proudly, can't wait to go back.
“The White House stands for so much,” he said on Monday, “not just for our country but around the world as a symbol of freedom. It'll be cool for the guys. I know I'm excited. It'll be a good experience – but mostly, we'll be going there to get a result. That's our No. 1 goal.”
Steve Brisendine covers Sporting Kansas City for MLSsoccer.com.
