The President approved of the team's shoes, tan leather numbers, and agreed that they were far better looking than the daisy roots sported by Bill Clinton, who was also part of the delegation.

"I just want to say how incredibly proud we are of the team," Obama said, heavy on the sugar. "Everybody's going to be rooting for you. And although sometimes we don't remember it here in the United States, this is going to be the biggest world stage there is. And you're going to be representing all of us."

The political handshake extended to sportsmen is as transparently opportunistic as the planted kiss on a baby, but a safe bet for heads of state seeking popularity via the common touch, providing our leader does not give the game away by getting the captain's name wrong.

Obama avoided the familiarity trap that led that urgent sympathiser in No 10, David Cameron, to address England's Twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood as "Colin".

If nothing else the diversion permitted time away from the real issue soiling Obama's diary, BP oil pumping into the Gulf of Mexico, which is murdering his popularity as well as sea life.

The players were surprised and grateful for the PR leg-up. The idea that a contest that comes with the word 'world' attached might take place outside America is slow to catch on in these parts.

Football, or soccer in the local lexicon, remains minor league in the United States notwithstanding the contribution of David Beckham at LA Galaxy.

Since there is barely any tradition of nation building through representative sides in baseball, gridiron and basketball, getting excited about US prospects in the World Cup does not come naturally to Uncle Sam.

Saturday's match in Philadelphia against Turkey is the second of two in a week billed quaintly as the 'send-off' series. The first ended in 4-2 defeat against the Czech Republic, in Hartford on Tuesday.

Coach Bob Bradley chose that fixture as a final audition for the World Cup squad, omitting his more established players. The team he puts out on Saturday is not expected to differ much from the line-up to face England in the opening World Cup fixture in Rustenburg in a fortnight.

"We look forward to the match against Turkey. It's a great test," Bradley said. "We feel we have a great group. Guys that have been to the World Cup before, and have become good leaders, some younger players that have played key roles throughout qualifying. Some new players that came in late but still bring enthusiasm and as a group I think there's great character, and we think that's one of our strengths."

The squad arrived an hour late in Philadelphia for their first training session following an extended tour of the White House by vice president Joe Biden.

The goals were erected on a training pitch used by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, which meant Fulham's Clint Dempsey was bending shots around the wall not from the edge of the box but the 20-yard line.

In the near distance across Broad Street the great silhouette of American sport rises out of the trees, the Philadelphia Phillies' ball park and next to that the Eagles' home, Lincoln Financial Field, where Saturday night's game will be played.

Soccer is new to the city. The Philadelphia Union are the latest 'franchise' to be accepted by the Major League Soccer and kicked their first ball in March this year. A purpose-built stadium opens next month, narrowly missing out on Saturday night's ticker-tape send-off.

The US squad contains only four players from the Major League Soccer, the lowest in the league's 15 year existence; Beckham's Galaxy team-mates Landon Donovan and striker Edson Buddle, Jonathan Bornstein, a defender with Chivas USA, and Real Salt Lake forward Robbie Findlay. The remainder play in Europe and Mexico.

The Americans see this as a positive development reflecting the growing demand for American footballers abroad.

As Donovan, the American captain who impressed during a loan stay at Everton, put it, the important point is not where players end up but where they begin.

"I don't care if they play in Norway or Antarctica," he said. "It's about how many players started their careers in the MLS. There's more players playing in Europe than ever before at quality teams. Obviously without this league we wouldn't have that opportunity."

England manager Fabio Capello has sent assistant Franco Baldini to make notes.