His family moved to the US at the beginning of 8th grade. That was back in the early 80s. He was into soccer so I got into it a little too.

A few years later, I was a full time missionary in Portugal. The World Cup was in Italy while I was there. Portugal didn't qualify, but every night was like a Super Bowl night in the US. Bars were packed and streets were quiet.
I watched soccer just about every night during that stretch.