00:00¿Has más de las equipas nacionales que intentaron venir aquí?
00:05Sí, sí.
00:05Sí, sí.
00:07La Alemania, la Alemania, la Alemania, la Alemania, la Alemania, la Alemania.
00:10La Alemania, sí.
00:12Sí, sí.
00:13¿Cómo fue eso?
00:14¿Es la manera más rápida y ellos ganaron la carrera?
00:17Sí, creo que un poco de eso tenía que ver con después de diciembre
00:21y cuando sabíamos dónde los equipos de la equipa.
00:22No sé exactamente dónde todos los equipos de la equipa.
00:26Pero se concluió que esto ha sido una buena fitza con España
00:30y que España va a ser muy feliz aquí.
00:32Y desde ese punto, nos fuimos más a la España.
00:36Mayor, si no hay problemas, vamos a hablar de fútbol.
00:40Sí.
00:41¿Cómo fan de fútbol tienes?
00:45¿Tienes seguido la Liga, la Premier, cuál es tu favorita?
00:49Sí, sí, sí.
00:50Yo seguido a todas las major leigas.
00:52I will say, you know, I was asked to speak at the Johan Cruyff Institute in Barcelona,
00:57and I say many times that was the biggest honor of my life, more so than being mayor, right?
01:03I couldn't believe it.
01:04I got this message, and I thought they must have made a mistake, right?
01:08But at the time, I think the founding of Chattanooga FC in a place where, you know,
01:14global football was thought to not really, and particularly in the American South,
01:19where American football is the big thing.
01:21It was a pretty remarkable story.
01:23So they asked me to come and speak, and I really fell in love with Barcelona and the club.
01:27So, I mean, I made some people mad, I think, at the federation who were Real Madrid people.
01:32But listen, I like La Liga.
01:34I'm, you know, also going to have a soft spot for Valencia.
01:37So, you know, I watch La Liga.
01:40And, I mean, again, the story of La Minima, of, you know, coming from the streets of Barcelona,
01:46to me, is as remarkable as anything.
01:47When we started Chattanooga FC, the club, and then we started the academy, and then we
01:52started a youth, you know, a foundation so that the kids, you know, here, unfortunately,
01:59in the academy, the parents have to play, have to pay money, you know, for their kids
02:03to play.
02:03Well, how are you going to get a kid like Amal, you know, if you have to, if your parents
02:08have to pay the money?
02:09It's not, it's not a good system.
02:11Again, it's one of the problems we have in this country.
02:13But that, that story, you know, is one that we would love to see replicated here.
02:17And one of the most gratifying things for me is, in fact, we have had now our first couple
02:22of kids who came up through our academy make it to our first team.
02:26And that alone, I mean, they're not yet loving you all, but just that principle of, I'm a
02:32localist, you know, I believe in community and the power of community.
02:35And I know that, I got that feeling when I was in Barcelona.
02:38I know that the spirit of that community is so strong, and the club represents the pride
02:43of that community, as it should be.
02:45And so to see somebody, you know, come from the streets of that city all the way up, you
02:49know, to the top level within the city and within that club, it's just an amazing story.
02:53And it's something I think every club in the world, you know, aspires to see happen
02:56in their own community.
02:58Do you think to have him, La Minyaman, for example, can be like a boost for the youth,
03:05for the children to...
03:06I had someone, a friend, who I gave tickets to the practice, and to their credit, a lot
03:14of them brought children who could not, you know, who couldn't afford to be there otherwise.
03:18And he said, it made me somewhat emotional because he sent me a note, and he said, I think
03:23this child, you just change this child's life.
03:25He was so inspired by Yamal's story and what Yamal's been able to accomplish, you know.
03:30So that, to me, is really what it's all about, you know.
03:33And it's the power of this game and, yeah, I mean, the power of a community to kind of,
03:40you know, grow its own, as it were.
03:43When you are here in Chattanooga and you watch on TV La Minyaman in Barcelona, what do you
03:49think about this kind of player who has a different talent?
03:54Yeah.
03:56Put your mind up.
Comentarios