STUART Holden heads into his first full season for Wanderers with presidential approval.

The USA international flew in to Canada on Monday to join up with his team-mates for the final game of their North American tour, against Toronto at BMO Field tonight.

The midfielder had been given extra time off, having competed in this summer’s World Cup, where he helped his country top England’s group against the odds, only to lose disappointingly at the hands of Ghana in the second round.

Holden recovered from a broken leg to take his place in Bob Bradley’s squad, who clinched a place in the knockout round with a late victory against Algeria in the group stages – forcing England into an ill-feted meeting with the Germans in the process.

And he revealed that Clint Demsey’s injury time goal had caused panic inside the White House, of all places, prompting a surprise call from president Barack Obama.

“Obama made a conference call after the game among the team to say how proud he was,” said the 24-year-old playmaker. “The White House erupted while he was in the middle of a meeting with the foreign minister and they all had to come running out to see what was going on.

“It was pretty cool to hear that from him, the leader of our country, and then we had Bill Clinton in the locker room afterwards cracking a beer with us.

“The result was amazing. It was a night I’ll never forget.”

Holden played just a few minutes of football in the tournament, coming on as a late substitute against England in the opening game.

But having missed the last few months of the Premier League season with a fracture tibia – sustained whilst on international duty in a tackle with Holland and Manchester City’s Nigel de Jong – the former Houston Dynamo star was glad just to be part of the squad.

“It was a great experience,” he said. “I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t play as much as I hoped but looking back, after I broke my leg last season, I’d have been happy just being there. It was quite surreal playing against England. When I got my name called over it wasn’t nerves, it was more excitement going into what was such a tight game.

“It would have been nice to find a winner, but it was a great point for us. I think we deserved to win the group in the end.”

Defeat in the last 16 against Ghana ended US hopes prematurely but Holden insists the tournament has done a lot of good for the game back in his home country.

“We had a good run and I think it’s really helped soccer in the US,” he said.

“We were really disappointed after the Ghana game knowing how things had lined up, and that we had a really good opportunity to play Uruguay and probably the best chance we have ever had of making the semi-final.

“Obviously there is a lot of pride having finished above England to win the group but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a little empty feeling too, knowing we could have done a little more.”

Despite his relative lack of preparation, Holden hopes to figure against Toronto tonight for the Carlsberg Cup, against a team he knows plenty about, having played for three full seasons in the MLS.

“The gaffer gave me the option of coming out here or meeting the squad back in England with Chungy but for me, being from the US, I really wanted to finish off the tour with the guys and get back amongst it,” he said.

“I wanted to make a stand and show I’m committed to this season.

“Toronto are a really well-supported team. They’re fairly young and since they have been in the league had some mixed results, but this year is the best they have done.

“The stadium is probably the second to Seattle in MLS in terms of atmosphere.

“I’d love to play a part although I haven’t had a long chat with the gaffer about it yet. I’ll only have one day of training under my belt, so if he chooses to leave me out, that’s his decision.”