The World Cup offers something of a free kick for soccer diplomacy, which some observers say U.S. President Barack Obama is failing to capitalize on.  While many nations, from Germany to Russia, are sending their leaders to Brazil to make a diplomatic appearance, Obama is staying home.

A far more compelling contest between Ghana and Germany will shortly demand your attention.  But just for an instant, you were a witness to someone else’s history. You wanted them to do well. That’s the most potent form of diplomacy.

While Rio de Janeiro and its famous beaches provide the touristic backdrop of the World Cup, the fevered grip of the world’s most popular sporting event can be felt even in some of the most isolated areas of the rain forest, where outsiders seldom visit. “Football is in our blood,” said Andre Pereira da Silva, 32, the chief of a small community of Sateré-Mawé Indians in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon, who served as a guide.

Governments in South America have turned their back on US financial aid. Central Americans have seen tens of thousands of minors depart for the US under the pressure of poverty and violence. And the Caribbean is turning increasingly violent as drug cartels have reclaimed abandoned trafficking routes. Aside from more economic aid, Biden could be left with little more than rhetoric to offer a region that in 2011 ranked President Obama the most popular leader in the Americas.

When American fans win a major sporting event, they often like to celebrate by turning over cars and burning everything in sight. When Japanese teams lose, it turns out that fans commiserate by cleaning the stadium. On Saturday, Japan lost its first World Cup match with the Ivory Coast by 2-1. While that could have been a demoralizing start for most sports enthusiasts, a bunch of Japanese fans who attended the event at Arena Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil decided to respond with an unbelievably classy move: cleaning up the stadium.

US Vice President Joe Biden begins a four-nation trip across Latin America on Monday, starting with some World Cup action at the US-Ghana game in Brazil. Biden will fly directly to the flood-stricken city of Natal to cheer on the United States as they face the Black Stars in their first Group G clash on Monday.

Backlash is mounting against the vice-president of the Italian senate after he celebrated Italy’s World Cup win over England with a vulgar Twitter outburst calling English people “pretentious pricks”. Maurizio Gasparri, former minister of communications under Silvio Berlusconi and one of the media mogul’s most loyal party faithful, posted a tweet at 2am local time from Salerno, just as Italy’s victory over England was sealed.