FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — For most soccer fans, the World Cup is about the game.
For one Scottish family, a trip to Boston is about much more than what happens on the field.
This week, Denis Keany and his son Dan traveled thousands of miles from Glasgow to join Scotland supporters, known as the Tartan Army, as their team takes the world stage for the first time in nearly 30 years.
[ ‘Absolutely mental’: Scotland takeover starts in Boston while others battle travel troubles ]
For the father-son duo, it’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
“It’s one of those things, you need to say, ‘I was there,’” Denis explained.
“It’s going to be emotional, I think, really exciting. A pinch me moment,” Dan added.
The trip was actually a surprise.
Denis’ family secretly pooled their money to send him and his son to Boston as an early 70th birthday gift.
Though that’s only part of the story.
Two years ago, the Keany family connected with relatives in the U.S. through an ancestry website.
Since then, they’ve exchanged messages and family history, without ever meeting face-to-face...until now.
Wednesday night, Denis and Dan met their U.S. relatives at none other than The Union Oyster House in Boston, which is said to be America’s oldest continuously operating restaurant.
“After two years of talking to them, it was brilliant. They were quite impressed with the Tartan army as well,” Denis said.
The timing feels almost too perfect.
The family reunion happened on what would have been the birthday of a beloved family matriarch who, relatives say, loved bringing family together.
“Memories for a lifetime,” Dan said.
For Denis, those memories won’t just be about the match. They’ll be about sharing it with his son, meeting relatives he never knew he had, and celebrating a connection that stretched across an ocean.
“It was written in the stars,” Dan said.
Scotland takes on Haiti this Saturday in Foxborough.
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