Robert Kraft swoons over Scotland, pushing for Patriots to repay visit

After Scotland national team fans won the hearts of New Englanders, NFL owner Robert Kraft wants to return the favor.

Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, held preliminary discussions with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about holding a regular-season game in Scotland, according to The Boston Globe.

Those discussions follow Scotland playing its first two World Cup matches at the Patriots' home stadium in Foxborough, Mass., while the team's Tartan Army supporters endeared themselves to locals during their adventures across the region.

Those exploits included a fabulously successful Scottish heritage night held by MLB's Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, where an estimated 5,000 Scottish fans turned up and took over the historic, cozy confines with songs and chants.

There were also numerous reports of Scottish fans drinking multiple local establishments dry -- including even the Samuel Adams brewery tap room.

And the stadium atmosphere for their two matches in Foxborough, a 1-0 win over Haiti on June 13 and a 1-0 loss to Morocco on Friday, was among the best of the tournament.

The NFL will stage a record nine regular-season games in foreign countries this season, including the Patriots' Week 10 meeting with the Detroit Lions in Munich, Germany.

It will be New England's sixth time playing abroad, including three previous games in London and one each in Frankfurt, Germany, and Mexico City.

Scotland faces Brazil on Wednesday in Miami Gardens, Fla., in their third group match. If Scotland advance, a round of 32 return to New England to face Germany is a possibility next week.

--Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media