FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Even though Scotland and Morocco were the World Cup teams playing at Gillette Stadium on Friday, there were plenty of American fans inside the venue watching on TV as the U.S. beat Australia 2-0 across the country in Seattle.
They were certainly outnumbered by the blue-shirted Tartan Army and the red-clad Moroccan supporters, but the ones cheering for the red, white and blue didn’t consider themselves isolated at the home stadium
of the NFL's New England Patriots.
“I don’t feel outnumbered at all,” said 39-year-old Boston resident Kaley Vescuso, who was wearing a blue USA jersey.
“It’s like a family reunion,” she said, standing in the middle of a large group of Scottish fans. “Our cousins are here.”
The TVs were on all around Gillette and when the U.S. scored to go up 2-0 a little over three hours before Morocco beat Scotland 1-0. A spattering of cheers echoed around the nearly empty stadium when Alex Freeman scored.
“It’s the best. The atmosphere is amazing, and being around all these fans from all around the world is amazing,” said 20-year-old Calder Reynolds, who is from nearby Wellesley and was dressed in a No. 86 Jack Hughes hockey jersey.
Reynolds brought along his 13-year-old sister Ellie, who admitted that she really didn’t watch soccer, but big brother convinced her to wear a Paul Revere-style three-cornered hat to go along with her red-and-white U.S. soccer shirt.
“I think it’s cool,” she said of her brother sporting a hockey sweater to a soccer match. “He’s really into it.”
Lots of U.S. fans were glued to the TVs to watch their team this year's World Cup, the first to have 48 teams in the field.
“The way that it’s sweeping the nation has been awesome,” Calder Reynolds said.
Sprinkled between many of the Scottish fans was 54-year-old Paul Schwerdt from Needham, Mass., who stuck out in his mostly white T-shirt with a USA logo.
“We perfectly timed it to get in here to watch the game,” he said. “It’s a fun time and a fun season. My brother-in-law is a mad soccer fan, and now I’m here and the Pats aren’t even playing.”
He did have on his baseball cap with a Patriots logo, though.
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
