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U.S. liked football before, but Landon Donovan and co hope the form of long-term connection

From South Africa to Alaska. U-S-A! From the bars of New York to the suburbs of Wisconsin. U-S-A! From the hallowed halls of the West Wing to the headquarters of ESPN. U-S-A! The results are in â€" all three of them â€" and the news is America loves soccer.

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This means that all or at least almost everything, whether it is Barack Obama, whose meeting with the new commander of the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, the White House, was interrupted by applause from his staff Landon Donovan 'late goal against Algeria, or Members of Congress, which, according to the Wall Street Journal , stopped discussions on the most important financial legislation since the Great Depression to watch Bob Bradley's side progress to the last 16. Even Tiger Woods cares. "That was a nice little gift on the goal there," the world's No1 golfer said of Robert Green's infamous gaffe. "But I hope he gets a chance to play again and is not finished."

Woods, the least empathetic man in sport, in public display of humanity shock! What has happened to the US and its people during this World Cup?

One school of thought suggests that the fervour that has distracted politicians and golfers, that has seen viewing records smashed and packed the pubs of Manhattan, will disappear just as quickly as it appeared. After all, we have been here before â€" twice. In 1994, when the US hosted the World Cup and embraced it like Brazilians, and in 1999, when the USA women's team won the World Cup and were collectively named Sport Illustrated's sportspeople of the year. Both times, the passion lasted about as long as a reality show romance.

The airwaves are filled with shrill voices, talkshow hosts, and NFL and baseball-obsessed callers, who have been making exactly these points but in doing so they reveal only their own conservative prejudices and convinced no one of anything other than they don't know what they are talking about.

Powerful forces are changing American attitudes towards football and none of them is Landon Donovan's right foot. US Soccer, the American equivalent of the FA, has embarked on a serious and well-organised campaign to host the World Cup, probably in 2022, with the bid's honorary chairman, Bill Clinton, the former US president, doing the rounds in South Africa this week. Suffice to say, Clinton talks a better game than David Beckham in making the case that his nation would be good for the World Cup, and vice versa.

"If you're an American, I think what you want is for the rest of the world to believe that we bear them no ill will, that we're basically pulling for them, that we share their aspirations and that we get them. I think that the World Cup gives us a chance to do that, gives us a chance to be embracing without either seeming hypocritical or having our people think we're doing something we shouldn't do. It's a really important way of our being able to relate to everybody,'' he told American journalists after meeting the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter.

Clinton may be convincing, but will affect its annoying when compared with ESPN, powerful sports broadcasting network, and costs $ 100 (?? 67m) for rights to show 2010 and 2014 World Cups, has invested millions of sending a team of 200 in South Africa cover this event and in many respects was over the main channel to football.

So far, the returns have been good â€" 6.5 million Americans watched Wednesday's match between the USA and Algeria, a record that will in all likelihood be beaten tomorrow. Overall ratings are up by 64% on four years ago. "I don't think there's any question that there will continue to be records broken in terms of the number of people watching on all our platforms," John Skipper, the network's executive vice-president for content, said.

Skipper would say that, of course, but $100m is a huge commitment, one that will take a while to recoup and suggests the most powerful and financially successful television network in sports history is in the football business for the long run.

Or to put it another way, this is one summer romance that will not be allowed to fade when autumn comes. ESPN will not allow that to happen.