Real U.S. Defense Secretary Phones Internet's U.S. Defense Secretary

The Defense Department Wednesday released a photo of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on the phone with U.S. Men's National Soccer Team goalkeeper Tim Howard.

The call was to congratulate Howard on his historic World Cup performance in the United States' round of 16 match against Belgium. Though the United States lost, Howard was credited with 16 saves, the most any goalkeeper has accrued in a single match since 1966. The Defense release said Hagel was calling to thank Howard "for defending the United States of America" and he invited the team to the Pentagon later this year.

Hagel is not the first to acknowledge Howard. The 35-year old's popularity has spread around the nation and the Internet. A We The People user added a petition to the White House site suggesting a renaming of Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport to Tim Howard National Airport. As of Wednesday night, the petition has 8,000 signatures.

During the match Tuesday, someone edited the Wikipedia page for the secretary of Defense to show Howard in the position since "July 1, 2014," with the requisite photo of Howard.

Best wiki update of the Cup so far, or ever: pic.twitter.com/GehIqfFtc1

— Danielle Elliot (@daniellelliot) July 2, 2014

The page was quickly changed back to show Hagel in the position Tuesday evening. According to Defense, Hagel told Howard "with some training, he could someday become the real ecretary of Defense."

As Twitter has become more prominent during major sporting events, much of worldwide commentary centered on the U.S.-Belgium tilt. Many Twitter users shared the same joke as the Wikipedia editor.

.@BarackObama @WhiteHouse should name Tim Howard Hon. Secretary of Defense #usa #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Rfs444yeRr

— Akif Malik (@akifmalik) July 1, 2014

And now that he's free, let's appoint Tim Howard Secretary of Defense and finally achieve world peace once and for all.

— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) July 1, 2014

THIS JUST IN BARACK OBAMA JUST ANNOUNCED TIM HOWARD WILL BE HIS NEW SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

— Chloe Kargodorian (@chloekargo) July 1, 2014

We officially nominate Tim #Howard as Secretary of Defense... anyone second the motion? pic.twitter.com/UFXo58PuQ2

— WPLG Local 10 Sports (@Local10Sports) July 1, 2014