Real Salt Lake Visit the White House

Besides a fancy trophy, Real Salt Lake earned a little face time with President Obama when they won the MLS Cup last November.

After qualifying for last year’s MLS playoffs by the skin of their teeth for the second year in a row, Real Salt Lake positively handled then-defending champion Columbus Crew, outplayed powerhouse Chicago Fire in a scoreless draw before dispatching them in penalties and finally ousted the favored L.A. Galaxy in a like manner for the trophy.

As if the defiant way RSL gets to hoist the trophy this year isn’t enough of a reward, the boys got to meet President Obama at the White House on Friday. The president said a few words about the unlikely route they took to the title and paid tribute to the fact that, “for this group, the team really is the star.”

After praising the team, the coaches and the organization, President Obama was presented with a custom XANGO-fronted RSL jersey. We’d like to think it bodes well for the country and the world that XanGo is now in the White House.

The team has a busy few days in Washington. After playing the first of two games against D.C. United on Wednesday, several of the players put on a clinic at the Washington Monument on Thursday to raise awareness of the MLS W.O.R.K.S. campaign Nothing But Nets, which fights malaria by providing mosquito nets for families in high-risk areas around the world. After leaving the White House they’ll look for a few hours to train and rest up for Saturday’s second half of the United doubleheader before flying home to host the L.A. Galaxy next Wednesday. A few shots of XanGo Juice should help them cope with the all the stress of being the defending champions.

We’re not sure who should be more honored to have met whom between the president of the United States and the scrappiest bunch of footballers in his jurisdiction, but XANGO is definitely proud to support the boys from Salt Lake.