America's final pitch to host to the 2022 World Cup was left to a former president and an Oscar-winning actor, who talked of diversity and outlined an aggressive economic plan with hopes of sweeping past Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea in Thursday's vote. Bill Clinton and Morgan Freeman were the key speakers in a 30-minute presentation that included a video from President Barack Obama and focused heavily on the financial boost soccer would get worldwide by returning to the US, where the sport has experienced slow, steady growth during the past 25 years. Initially, all 24 executive committee members from FIFA, soccer's world governing body, would have cast secret ballots. However, accusations of corruption resulted in the suspension of two voters, leaving 22. "It's important that all the teams who come to any World Cup venue feel that they, too, are playing at home, not just for people watching on television," said Clinton, honorary chairman of the U.S. bid committee. "I tell everyone maybe America's best claim to this World Cup is that we have the only nation you can put the World Cup that can guarantee no matter who makes the final, we can fill a stadium with home-nation rooters." The U.S. laid out an economic proposal that would provide the most money for FIFA, soccer's governing body, with average attendance of 76,000 and $1 billion in projected sponsorship funds. U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said every Major League Soccer team would likely have its own stadium by the time the tournament opens in June 2022, providing ample training sites while larger NFL stadiums are used for matches. While Clinton's speech veered into highlights of his own foundation's achievements, Freeman invoked the name of Nelson Mandela, the former South African president who helped bring the 2010 World Cup to that nation. Freeman portrayed Mandela in the movie "Invictus," based on the former political prisoner's role in the 1995 Rugby World Cup and using it to unite a country separated by apartheid. "We are now the most diverse nation on earth," Freeman said. "And our patchwork heritage is our greatest strength." At one point, Freeman had to stop when he realized he skipped a portion of his speech. "I'm sorry, I missed a page," he said after realizing his speech was going in a different direction. Source: Huffingtonpost.com