US First Lady Laura Bush talked soccer yesterday, offering her explanation for the national team’s failed campaign in Germany. “Americans really are just learning about soccer. It’s a new sport to the United States,” she said. I guess you can tell by the way our team plays.” Actually, the United States participated in the first two World Cups, taking a respectable 3rd place out of 12 teams in the 1934 World Cup. The first lady was in Germany with her husband, President George W. Bush on a visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “We watched the games when the US played, but we also watched the finals between France and Italy at the White House. My husband and I watched those games together,” she said. “I guess we did not do very well, but we did play Germany, and I think that’s when we lost, isn’t it, the last time when we were out,” Actually, the United States played the Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana, not Germany. “You know, Americans really don’t know that much about soccer,” she reiterated. “And the World Cup still was very interesting to Americans. Americans watched,” she said.