Sports

Is Barack Obama a Darmstadt Fan?

On Wednesday, Deutsche Welle, Germany’s public international broadcast service, made a startling discovery: the only European soccer team former U.S. President Barack Obama follows on Twitter is… Darmstadt. Which is weird!

Darmstadt is not exactly a powerhouse in European soccer. The club currently sits in last place in the Bundesliga, with just 12 points in 20 games so far. Nor is the city of Darmstadt anything special. It is basically a suburb of Frankfurt. Even the name is weird. “Darm” in German means bowel or gut, which makes Darmstadt, well, “Gut City.” Which is not to say it’s a terrible place—the city is known for its universities and as the mission control center of the European Space Agency. But if you’re going to pick one team to follow, there are some sexier choices available than a bottom-of-the-table suburban team from Gut City.

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The only answer anyone can really think of for why Obama follows Darmstadt is Terrence Boyd. The German-American striker recently signed for Darmstadt after a couple injury-plagued seasons with RB Leipzig. Obama was a vocal supporter of the men’s national team during both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, and Boyd made the bulk of his 14 international appearances in the run-up to the 2014 tournament. Last weekend, Darmstadt beat German Giants Dortmund 2-1. Boyd, making his Bundesliga debut, scored the opener.

When the news of their famous follower broke, Darmstadt immediately invited Obama to a game. With Boyd playing host.

[Deutsche Welle]