The competition on the field at Sunday's World Cup match between the United States and Portugal was fierce, but there was also some action in the stands that caught the attention of social media users worldwide.
There, among the rallying fans, was the likeness of Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States.
The image of the bespectacled cowboy aired on television after a goal by Clint Dempsey in the 81st of the game and immediately blew up on Twitter, quickly earning the moniker "Teddy Goalsevelt."
Teddy Goalsevelt is everything that's right about this @ussoccer team. @clint_dempsey @TimHowardGK #speaksoftly #IBelieveThatWeWillWin #USA
— John Wisdom (@SouSportscintst) June 24, 2014
Teddy Goalsevelt is my favorite part of the World Cup so far pic.twitter.com/SWXmgeGN7o
— KYBlackout (@KYBlackout) June 24, 2014
I'm late to this....but Teddy Goalsevelt has got to be the single greatest sports costume I've ever seen
— R. Darren Price (@RDarrenPrice) June 24, 2014
As it turns out, the man behind the glasses is none other than Mike D'Amico of Chicago. And while he hoped his getup would attract attention, he was surprised his likeness went viral.
"The Twitter thing is awesome. I'm super stoked about that. Obviously anybody would be, but I do it because it gets people fired up. Like, I lead the march here and people were like, 'Yeah! Teddy Roosevelt!.' he told Yahoo! Sports. "It gets people excited. It gets people involved."
D'Amico attended Virginia Commonwealth University and now works as the Associate Creative Director at Chicago-based Cavalry advertising agency.
