FRISCO -- It was the quick goal from USA's Clint Dempsey that had the country swelling with pride during the team's opening match against Ghana during the 2014 World Cup.
It meant even more to Keith Hodder, watching at home in Frisco.
'We were just shocked!' he said. 'I see the ball break to Clint, and I see him do that little move he'd do when he was a kid. That little step over move! He just made a great turn inside and it was a fantastic shot.'
Hodder is a coach with the Dallas Texans soccer team, who's watched as three of his players made it to the World Cup. '...But Clint has probably done the best of the three,' he told us.
Dempsey's early goal may be the talk of Team USA, but he spent his teen years on the fields in North Texas.
'He's still a very similar player to how he was then,' Hodder said. 'He was always the guy that would score a goal in the big game -- when it really mattered.'
And he's a guy who remembers where he came from. He sent Hodder a signed shirt from his time playing in England. Hodder will be wearing it for each of Team USA's games as it advances to its second game of competition.
'To see someone play on the greatest stage of soccer in the world and do well, it's really incredible,' Hodder said.
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E-mail msaavedra@wfaa.com
