Although US suffered a devastating loss 2-1 against Belgium on Tuesday, the obvious silver lining of the dark cloud that day was American goalkeeper Tim Howard. RT.com said Howard managed 16 saves for his home team that day and a total of 24 for his stint at this year's World Cup. His impressive defense skills gave his team hope to dominate against the Belgians during overtime, of which he finally succumbed no doubt because of fatigue and pressure from the opposing team.
Many who were impressed with Howard's valiant efforts to advance the US to the quarterfinals showed their appreciation by embellishing the goalkeeper's Wikipedia entry. There were screenshots flooding in social media following the match, with edits labeling Howard as the "American Jesus" and "new Secretary of Defense."
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales had shared his two cents on the vandalism of Howard's entry. RT.com noted that although Wales' tweet on July 2 showed his disapproval of vandalism, he was nonetheless amused.
Adding a link to a vandalized Wikipedia entry, Wales wrote, "I do NOT APPROVE of vandalizing wikipedia for comedic effect. But this is exquisite."
The "Secretary of Defense" prank went into a whole new level of dedication to honor Howard's role in the US Men's National Team's performance in the tournament when a petition on the We the People online portal hosted on the official White House website is asking the US government to rename an airport somewhere in the Washington DC area after Howard.
The petition read, "Whereas Tim Howard has shown himself to be a national treasure, Minister of Defense, Friend of Joe Biden, and the holder for the record of most saves in a World Cup match; Therefore, we politely request that we rename the airport to recognize his accomplishments, and meritorious service to the United States of America."
The petition currently has 3,000 signatures. RT.com said that the White House would be forced to respond should it reaches a hundred thousand before the end of this month.
