ARLINGTON, Texas (KBTX) – Martin Thornton had been a fan of the England national soccer team for 72 years but had never seen the Three Lions play in person.<\/p>\n
It took a trip to Texas, a second home for his son Sam, to make that dream become a reality.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, both Martin and Sam Thornton were among more than 70,000 who packed AT&T Stadium, known as Dallas Stadium for the World Cup, to watch England beat Croatia 4-2 in group play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like a dream come true for me,\u201d Martin said. \u201cI mean, to come here, see Sam, take all this in \u2014 it\u2019s just absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sam left his hometown of Baildon, England \u2014 just outside Leeds \u2014 to join the Texas A&M swimming and diving team in 2015. Over four years, he earned first-team All-American honors in 1-meter diving and qualified for multiple NCAA championships.<\/p>\n
He has remained in Bryan-College Station for nearly a decade thanks to a job as one of the Aggie athletic department\u2019s most decorated sports information directors, serving both national championship-winning volleyball and track and field programs.<\/p>\n
When Sam saw that England was going to play Croatia approximately three hours up the road from his new home, he knew there was no chance of missing the opportunity. His family in England agreed.<\/p>\n
So, the Thornton family made the match a family reunion of sorts.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we found out it was going to be in America, we were waiting for that fixture list,\u201d Sam said before the match. \u201cOnce we found out it was going to be here, once college season was ended for me, it was huge. It was, how can we get as many people here as possible? There\u2019s a group of six of us here today, so we\u2019re just ready to experience it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin had been to a World Cup game before, when England hosted the world championship tournament in 1966. However, the only game he could attend was in Sheffield and the Three Lions didn\u2019t make that trip north.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the family was treated to one of the most exciting games of the tournament to date. Striker and England\u2019s all-time leading goalscorer Harry Kane netted a penalty to open the scoring for the match. It came after his first attempt was saved, but VAR ruled Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic had left his line early. A retake, which ended in a goal, was awarded.<\/p>\n
Croatia\u2019s Martin Baturina leveled the match at 1 with a rocket from two yards outside the penalty box in the 36th minute. The shot deflected off the hand of diving England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and bent the netting in the top-left corner of the goal.<\/p>\n
Kane struck again in the 42nd minute on an unguarded header off a corner kick, skillfully placed in the bottom right corner of the goal.<\/p>\n
What should have been a one-goal lead at the half was a tie thanks to a goal by Croatian striker Petar Musa in first-half added time. Croatia\u2019s Mario Pasallic chipped a ball over the English defense and found the head of Ivan Persic around the penalty spot. His header passed backward and to the left portion of the penalty box to a wide-open Musa, the FC Dallas striker.<\/p>\n
The game was put away in the second half on a pair of England goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.<\/p>\n
This World Cup has put U.S. appreciation of soccer under the spotlight. If the U.S. serving as a co-host of the tournament for the first time since 1994 is a benchmark, the numbers indicate the sport\u2019s growth stateside.<\/p>\n
According to FIFA, more than 54 million people tuned into the opening World Cup matches across the United States, Canada and Mexico. For the United States men\u2019s national team\u2019s opening game, 27.5 million watched in the U.S., making it the most-watched soccer broadcast in the country.<\/p>\n
Kane, an avid American sports fan, said he\u2019s seen the sport grow in the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how well [Americans] do their sporting system, so if they can get football right, then for sure it\u2019ll be one of the biggest sports in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dennis McMillan and Trevor Balderrama fall into the category of American soccer fans who were intrigued with what was going on at Dallas Stadium on Saturday. McMillan traveled up from the Brazos Valley and met up with Balderrama from San Antonio. The duo was decked out in cowboy hats and England jerseys to support their brother-in-law, Ben Walls, who is an England native.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far it\u2019s been awesome,\u201d Balderrama said. \u201cThe crowd is awesome. We really love the way the people are chanting and singing. It\u2019s awesome. There\u2019s no other feeling like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Thorntons, there was no better feeling than walking away from Dallas Stadium as victors in England\u2019s first group-stage game of the tournament. The outcome was certainly well worth the trip, Sam Thornton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely amazing,\u201d Martin said. \u201cI never thought it would happen in my lifetime and I\u2019m 72 years old. I\u2019ve got my other son here as well. It\u2019s an amazing experience for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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