Soccer players from England, Argentina or Brazil who went on tours in other countries were transformed into ambassadors while away. Sports and soccer, in Latin America especially, were effective ways for countries to get to know each other, he said.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and U.S. Soccer announced today that former U.S. Women’s National Team players Shannon MacMillan and Tracy Noonan will travel to Guatemala as Sports Envoys...where they will lead soccer clinics for young girls and boys...and reach out to underprivileged youth with the National Soccer Teams.

A striking achievement in sports diplomacy had also been the final relocation of the headquarters of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) from Yaounde in Cameroun to Abuja.

Polio has all but been eradicated from the Earth, but not quite. So Bill Gates and the soccer club FC Barcelona are joining forces to push the effort past the goal line. They're calling it the "More than a Goal. End Polio" campaign...Barcelona plans to spread the message through in-stadium advertisements, announcements during matches, and via social media to the millions of followers worldwide.

The U-20 is Colombia’s biggest-ever international sports event. This time around, the country is embracing the challenge. The games will be played in Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena and five other cities and watched on TV by 500 million people around the world. Spectators will learn about the country’s improved security, booming economy and natural beauty.

The link between football, identity, unity and nationhood is so strong that many newly-found states, or states divided by war, have used the soft power of football to achieve hard political aim.

Sports diplomacy. This term typically brings to mind images of athletes in action, engaging young and old on their field of play, sharing not only their prowess in sport, but their cultures and values. In Zimbabwe, American soccer player-turned-administrator Jon McCullough gave new meaning to sports diplomacy, trading in cleats for loafers, jerseys for business suits, and playbooks for PowerPoint.

Timed to coincide with the lead-up to the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup as well as the 40th anniversary year of Title IX, the initiative builds on Clinton’s vision of “smart power diplomacy” to harness the full range of diplomatic tools at the nation's disposal — in this case international soccer exchanges — to advance United States foreign policy goals and foster greater understanding.