2026年6月25日 美国东部时间下午4:32 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
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葡萄牙足球巨星克里斯蒂亚诺·罗纳尔多周二创造了历史，他不仅成为首位在六届世界杯赛事中都有进球的球员，同时也为马克·加西亚带来了一段难忘的经历。加西亚是葡萄牙队球迷，也是数百名获赠世界杯比赛免费门票的退伍军人之一。
“昨天的比赛棒极了，那种精彩程度和对我的重要性，几乎无法用语言形容，”加西亚周三对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示。
加西亚和妻子通过Vet Tix的抽奖活动获得了葡萄牙对阵乌兹别克斯坦的比赛门票。Vet Tix是一家非营利组织，为现役军人、退伍军人以及阵亡将士的直系亲属免费提供体育赛事、音乐会及其他活动的门票。
美国陆军退伍军人马克·加西亚与妻子比利于2026年6月23日观看了葡萄牙对阵乌兹别克斯坦的世界杯比赛。马克·加西亚 摄
今年夏天的世界杯期间，美国银行捐赠了200万美元，Vet Tix额外捐赠25万美元，用于为现役军人、退伍军人和急救人员提供近5000张门票，让他们可以前往11个美国主办城市观看比赛。为纪念美国建国250周年，每场美国男足比赛都预留了约250张门票。
Vet Tix的一位发言人对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示，截至目前，约80%的门票已发放给现役军人和退伍军人，20%发放给了急救人员。
加西亚和妻子在休斯顿观看了比赛，另一位陆军退伍军人彼得·法利则通过Vet Tix获得了上周在马萨诸塞州福克斯堡举行的伊拉克对阵挪威的比赛门票，并邀请了2008年至2009年在伊拉克巴格达部署期间结识的一名翻译一同观赛。法利不愿透露这名翻译的姓名。
“我们已经多年未见，说实话，我从未想过有一天能和他并肩坐在美国的世界杯赛场上。这真的是一个圆满的时刻，”法利在给Vet Tix的电子邮件中说道。
而此次观赛更具圆满意义，法利表示，他在伊拉克时曾说服这名现居德克萨斯州的翻译支持新英格兰爱国者队。
“当时他几乎对美式橄榄球一无所知，但现在他已经是忠实球迷了，”法利在邮件中写道，“我们在伊拉克期间，我妻子还给他寄了一件汤姆·布雷迪的球衣，他现在还留着。太不可思议了，他最终会在吉列体育场看的不是爱国者队的比赛，而是伊拉克队的世界杯赛事！”
陆军退伍军人彼得·法利于2026年6月16日与他在伊拉克部署期间结识的翻译一同观看了伊拉克对阵挪威的世界杯比赛。彼得·法利 摄
伊拉克队以1比4不敌挪威队，但法利写道：“这最终成了我看过的最棒的体育赛事之一，或许是最好的！”
作为葡萄牙队球迷的加西亚表示，他在观看比赛的大部分时间里都热泪盈眶。
“能亲临现场，葡萄牙队以5比0获胜，罗纳尔多还打进两球，整场比赛我几乎都在哭，”加西亚说道。
他的父母来自葡萄牙外海的法亚尔岛，从小将他培养成了狂热的葡萄牙足球迷。直到周二，他才第一次现场观看足球比赛。
作为一名拥有近13年会员资历的Vet Tix成员，加西亚已经参加过多项其他活动，比如休斯顿德克萨斯人队的NFL比赛，以及安立奎·伊格莱西亚斯、仙妮亚·唐恩等艺人的演唱会。他经常和妻子一同前往，如果能拿到四张票，就会带上儿子和女儿。他称赞该组织为像他这样的退伍军人提供了门票，否则他们可能负担不起这样的体验。
加西亚于1991年至1997年在陆军服役，并曾被部署到波斯尼亚。他表示在那里目睹了儿童踩中地雷等令人痛心的场景，这促使他提前结束了军旅生涯。时至今日，他仍难以谈起那些回忆。
“（Vet Tix提供的这些活动）让我有机会和家人一起出门，置身于人群之中，不用担心周围有很多人，”加西亚说道。
通过Vet Tix参加活动时，他经常发现身边坐着其他退伍军人，这给他带来了额外的安心感。
“很多时候，当奏响国歌时，我环顾四周就能认出哪些是退伍军人。能和他们待在一起，共度这段时光，感觉很棒，”加西亚说道。
Hundreds of veterans snag free World Cup tickets: “One of the best sporting events I’ve ever been to. Maybe the best!”
June 25, 2026 4:32 PM EDT / CBS News
By
Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo made history on Tuesday, not just as the first person to score in six World Cup tournaments, but also as the centerpiece of an unforgettable experience for Mark Garcia, a Portugal fan and one of hundreds of veterans receiving free tickets to World Cup matches.
“The game yesterday was amazing, pretty much, more than anybody can describe into words how amazing it was and how important it was to me,” Garcia told CBS News on Wednesday.
Garcia and his wife attended the match between Portugal and Uzbekistan after entering a lottery on Vet Tix, a nonprofit that provides free tickets to sports, concerts and other events for current military service members, veterans and the immediate family of those killed in action.
U.S. Army veteran Mark Garcia and his wife, Billie, attend a Portugal-Uzbekistan World Cup match on June 23, 2026. Mark Garcia
For this summer’s World Cup, Bank of America contributed $2 million and Vet Tix an additional $250,000 for almost 5,000 tickets for current military service members, veterans and first responders to attend games in the 11 U.S. host cities. Some 250 tickets are being set aside for each U.S. Men’s soccer game as a way to recognize America’s 250th anniversary.
So far, about 80% of tickets have gone to current military service members and veterans, and 20% have gone to first responders, a Vet Tix spokesperson told CBS News.
While Garcia and his wife attended a match in Houston, another Army veteran, Peter Farley, received tickets through Vet Tix to last week’s Iraq-Norway match in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and invited an interpreter he met during a deployment to Baghdad, Iraq, in 2008 and 2009. Farley did not want to disclose the name of the interpreter.
“It has been years since we’ve seen each other, and I honestly never imagined we’d one day be sitting side-by-side at a World Cup game in the United States. It feels like a truly full-circle moment,” Farley said in an email to Vet Tix.
Even more full-circle because Farley said that while he was in Iraq, he had convinced the interpreter, who now lives in Texas, to root for the New England Patriots.
“He barely knew anything about American football then but now he’s a diehard,” Farley said in an email. “My wife actually sent him a Tom Brady jersey while we were over there which he still has. Crazy that he ends up at Gillette Stadium not to watch the Pats, but Iraq!”
Army veteran Peter Farley attends an Iraq-Norway World Cup match on June 16, 2026, with an interpreter he met during a deployment to Iraq. Peter Farley
Iraq lost to Norway 4-1, but Farley wrote that “it ended up being one of the best sporting events I’ve ever been to. Maybe the best!”
Garcia, the Portugal fan, said he spent most of the game he attended with tears in his eyes.
“For it to be at that game, and Portugal winning five-nothing, and Ronaldo’s scoring twice, I’m almost crying pretty much the entire game,” Garcia said.
His parents are from Faial Azores, one of the islands off of Portugal, and they raised him as an intense Portugal soccer fan. He had never been to a match in person until Tuesday.
As a Vet Tix member for almost 13 years, Garcia has attended several other events, such as Houston Texans NFL games and concerts with artists including Enrique Iglesias and Shania Twain. He often goes with his wife, but brings his son and daughter when he is able to get four tickets. He praised the organization for offering tickets to veterans, like him, who probably couldn’t afford such experiences otherwise.
Garcia served in the Army from 1991 to 1997 and deployed to Bosnia. He says he witnessed harrowing scenes there, such as children stepping on landmines, which led him to cut his Army career short. He still finds those memories hard to talk about.
“[The Vet Tix experiences] gave me the opportunity to actually go somewhere with my family and to actually be around big crowds and, and not have, you know, the worry of being around a lot of people,” Garcia said.
Often, he finds that he is sitting near other veterans when he goes to events through Vet Tix, which gives him an additional sense of comfort.
“A lot of times when they play the national anthem, you know, I can kind of look around and see who the veterans are. And it’s pretty cool to kind of be with them and spend that time with them,” Garcia said.
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