Sec. of Defense Hagel calls US goalie Tim Howard

Call placed a day after World Cup goalie jokingly named secretary of defense

One secretary of defense called another on Wednesday when U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel placed a call to World Cup soccer goalie Tim Howard.

The call from Hagel came one day after his Wikipedia entry was changed following Howard's record-setting 16-stop performance in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Belgium to show that Howard was actually the U.S. secretary of defense. While the change was soon corrected, a screenshot of the edited page was tweeted and quickly went viral.

With that in mind, Hagel placed a call from the Pentagon to the goalie to offer his congratulations and share a laugh at the joke.

The Pentagon released this statement with the photo above on Wednesday afternoon:

"Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called U.S. Men's National Team goalkeeper Tim Howard to thank him for defending the United States of America at the World Cup. Secretary Hagel congratulated Howard on his record-breaking game and a great run in Brazil. He invited Howard and the entire team to come to the Pentagon later this year. He told Howard that with some training, he could someday become the real secretary of defense."

If Howard feels he's ready for that role once his soccer career is over, some Team USA fans already have his back, starting a White House petition to name him as the secretary of defense.