Obama hails US World cuppers

US football fans erupted in celebration across the country on Thursday as their team reached the next round of the World Cup, fueling a surge of popularity for a sport struggling to gain a foothold. Crowds gathered in bars, pubs and in front of open-air big screens nationwide to watch Team USA battle Germany -- a losing effort for the Americans, but enough to move on in the tournament in Brazil. Football mania even appeared to hit Wall Street, where trading volumes were down about 10 percent during the game, which started at noon on the US East Coast -- the perfect excuse for long lunch breaks. And President Obama hailed the US team's progress to the next round, saying: "We could not be prouder of them. ... They are defying the odds and earned a lot of believers in the process." In Los Angeles, it was beer for breakfast at the German-themed Red Lion pub, where fans from the two countries gathered for the match, which sent both nations through to the final 16. "It's pretty impressive, given that we're not a soccer country at all," Zach Fuhr, 23, said, clutching a liter glass of beer in the packed garden of the pub, in LA's hipster Silver Lake neighborhood. "We've already exceeded expectations... considering that we were in the group of death," he added, referring to the group which also contained Portugal and Ghana. Germany's Thomas Mueller scored to give the European heavyweights a 1-0 win over the US team. But Team USA went through to the knockout round anyway, after Portugal’s 2-1 victory over Ghana was not enough for them to overtake the Americans in second place in Group G. TV audience data was not immediately available, but the previous Team USA match against Portugal on Sunday evening drew nearly 25 million viewers -- more than the NBA finals or baseball's World Series, mainstays of the US sporting landscape. It is the fourth time Team USA has got past the group stage at the World Cup. Their best ever performance was getting into the quarter-finals in 2002. The Americans will play Belgium next, on July 1, in the first knock-out stage of the tournament, according to AFP.