(hip-hop beat) - Welcome to Ethnic Media Services' weekly national news conference.

I'm Pilar Marrero, associate editor of Ethnic Media Services.

Our topic today is the World Cup, also known in Spanish as La Copa, La Copa del Mundo.

And, without saying what sport we are talking about, we all know what it refers to.

It refers to football as it is known in most of the world, or soccer, the word used in some countries, including the U.S.; USA, Australia, and others.

We want to dig into the football/soccer phenomenon in your countries and regions and what are the social, cultural and economic implications of it?

And, yes, there's also political ones.

Why is this the world's most popular sport?

We wanna know.

We are happy to have a well-rounded panel from different regions of the world.

We welcome our panelists, and they are, Henrik Rehbinder.

He's a journalist and analyst.

We worked together for a long time at La Opinión.

Charles Anchang, co-publisher of Immigrant Magazine, Ehab Zenga, professional soccer coach and owner of Legacy Anaheim Football Club and director of coaching for California Football Club.

Thank you all for being here.

We are going to have a Q-and-A style session.

It's gonna be a bit relaxed, and we will start with some questions for each member of the panel and then we will open to questions from reporters.

And, I'm gonna start with the first round.

I'm gonna address my questions to each of you.

And, I really wanna know how each of you got involved in the sport of soccer or football, either as a fan or as a player or how you ended up being a fan or even a coach or a player of the sport?

Henrik!

- Well, I started I think, like many Argentinians and in Latin American, just having a ball as a little kid.

Somebody gave me a ball and we start kicking.

And then was something that-- it came so natural.

It's the only sport that everybody play and it was just, you know?

It was just-- I dunno.

It become an addiction or something like this, that you start kicking a ball, and playing and running.

It's a great sport, especially if you are young, to run a lot!

(Pilar laughs) And, without any organization, without anything that has to be done there, we just start kicking in the street.

We just kicking it anywhere, and if you have a ball, it's a ball.

If you don't have a ball, you kick a stone or anything, but you can kick anything, and that's how it started.

It's not organized like in other countries where you have an organization.

You just go and play because this is the only sport and it's the most popular sport.

So, it's something natural that come out there.

- Thank you.

Thank you, Henrik.

Charles?

- Oh, yes!

(chuckling) So, much same story!

I was born in Africa in the-- first of all, thank you for having me here.

I really appreciate this opportunity to share the wonderful experience of World Cup soccer.

To me, it's the best time in life that I could sit and watch soccer from all over the world.

In Cameroon where I was born, we had to-- that was the only sport that we had to-- we could afford to participate in as young kids.

So, if we did not have a football, we would get even some banana leaves, okay?

And, tie them with rubber.

And, we used to make football out of rubber, out of rubber from tires, so we could play because that was-- that's how we connect.

And, guess what happened to me?

Cameroon got into the World Cup as one of the first major countries in the World Cup, back there in the days of Roger Milla.

And, in 1994, when Cameroon was playing in the World Cup in the U.S. that's how I came to the United States because I was one of the business persons around the soccer team.

And, I came to come promote Cameroonian culture because of the success of the Cameroonian national team.

I came to America!

So, that's how important it is to me.

What soccer represents to me, it's a major gateway for it's helped Cameroon, put Cameroon on the map more than anything else has done in Africa.

Thank you.

- Wow, that's incredible.

Thank you, Charles.

- [Charles] Yes.

- Mr. Zenga.

Ehab?

- Hi, everybody.

Thank you for having me today.

How I played soccer was by accident.

I was just going to support my brother.

He had a tryout with a team, (clears throat) [warbly audio] one of the best team in Egypt called Ahly Club.

So, the Ahly Club was holding tryout in one of our small clubbing area.

So, my brother was trying out for the team and I was behind the goal supporting my brother.

And, one ball come out of balance and I dive to the ball and the coach is-- he-- I catch his eye.

He came to me.

He told me, "Why you are not trying out with us?"

I said, I don't know.

I never played soccer.

It's just-- I was young.

I was like nine-years-old.

So, he took me to the big club and told me, "Hey, you gonna be with us."

And, I played since then from nine-years-old.

That's my first time I played soccer.

Then after that, I grew up playing with the youth programs, then I play with the national team of Egypt.

Then, I went to Africa championship.

But, start with nine-years-old.

- [Pilar] Wow, super.

Yeah-yeah!

- Thank you.

- Yeah, I think many players start really young.

So, explain to me...

I mean, some of you have touched a little bit on this.

It's an easy game to pick up when you're young, but it is the most popular sport in the world.

What makes it so?

Is it just because it's easy to understand, Henrik?

I mean, you put a ball inside of an arch and...that's it.

If you-- in Venezuela where I was born, we had baseball.

And to get all the rules of baseball, it's kind of complicated.

- Well, I think that you touched one point.

Soccer is a sport that is very easy to play.

You don't require any special ability of being too tall, too strong, too-?

You can be a small person.

You can be a big person and you can play well.

You don't need a lot of equipment.

We just hear how you do with banana peels, a ball.

So, you don't need really, require so much equipment.

And, it's because also of how easy it is.

This is a game that has been played all over the world, even before the globalization.

Even before that, you had the stars that you can see at the same time, the World Cups.

This is something that has developed slowly.

Now, this has started from the '30s was the first World Cup and in the '20s and there were small-- there were 11 teams or 12 teams.

They were growing, growing and also because the organization of football, FIFA has been growing more and more and more teams.

And, this has allowed to make it really a global sport now.

[warbly audio] Now, where everybody has an opportunity to play as in a place, well, in the house.

I used to dirt all the walls of my house because I used to hit with a ball there!

Being a only child, you don't play with anybody except walls.

So, this allowed really to do something that you like.

And, it's kind of addiction.

And, you don't really need a lot of things to play soccer and enjoy the game.

Now, uh?

I know that you can go-- there's some guests who are more elaborated in the soccer structure now.

I came from a place that is not elaboration soccer structure.

I'm a journalist.

I'm never-- I just play still now as a 66.

I play walking soccer now, which is a different thing.

But, it's still you have this addiction of playing and you don't require anything except a couple of people who has the same addiction.

And, in my team, they're all over the world of people who are playing there.

And, that's what-- it bring us together.

- And, you told me you have a 90-year-old play too?

- Yes.

When I went to play, I thought that I was gonna be one of the old ones because it is a league of over-60 and I find myself a goalie who's 90-years-old, you know?

And another ones were 85, in the league.

- So, you feel young now.

Okay!

- A kid!

I feel again a kid!

- (laughs) Charles, what about you?

- [Charles] Yes?

- What do you think?

What is the ease of football?

- Soccer, football, it's kind of tribal.

You know, it's a community sport.

Then it gets to college sport, then it gets to city sport, then it gets to a district and then it gets to a sovereign sport.

You see how it grows.

So, it grows from your little schools, from the school boy, from the teams at school all the way through college then to the city and what have we.

And, that's what's makes soccer football so, so popular.

And, I see football, especially when you watch like the World Cup, there's some kind of, I mean, a warfare going on in terms of dominance.

You know what I'm saying?

(laughs) People are trying to portray their sense of organizations, their skill set and trying to portray their dominance as a collective of a sovereign under a small theme called football.

You see even the U.S. now participating fully.

The U.S. usually was more popular at the Olympics.

But, now you see the U.S. getting very, very engaged with world football to the point where they're becoming a major contender in the World Cup because of the culture.

And, as you see more immigrants that have come from all over the world to the U.S., you see how the impact of the immigrant culture of football has penetrated America.

And, when you look at these soccer teams, you see so many children.

Like for instance, the U.S. soccer team we have the son of the president of Ghana-- of Liberia, Weah.

Weah, who scored the first goal for the U.S., was a son of a famous-- one of the most famous African soccer players, George Weah, who used to play in Liberia, then played in Cameroon, then went to play in Europe.

So, you see the culture of... People follow football for many reasons.

There's also betting that goes around football.

There's a lot of betting and gaming that happens around football in terms of the scores, lottery.

So, football is a very engaging-- I still call it football because I come from Cameroon, the English (chuckles) name of it!

- Absolutely, yeah.

Definitely, I can't call it soccer.

I'm sorry!

- I call it soccer!

(both laughs) - Mr. Zenga, what's your take on why the popularity and why the ease?

Why it's easy to just get into?

- I think because it is very affordable sports among all the sports.

So, you know how the football start with the English people when they are playing like the English army, when they are different.

When you go in different country, the people, the army people, how they play.

They play running with something like a small ball.

And, all the world was wondering what are you guys doing?

This is something very, very crazy.

Why are you running around something?

So, that's how to start.

Because you don't need any equipment to play soccer.

You can just play whatever.

You can put two rock and make it a goal.

You can just draw something in a wall as a goal.

You can play soccer, or football, any way, and you can make your own rules, too.

The rules is not fixed.

You can make your own rule.

You can make offside.

You don't have to make offside game.

You can make it like a tough game, soft game, whatever you can do.

You can play the sports, but other sports has specific rules and you need equipment.

Some of them they need the player on the field like need special shoes to wear it.

So, people will start, go to the soccer, because soccer don't need.

I started soccer with no shoes.

When I played soccer, I didn't play with shoes.

I was barefoot.

And, this is how mostly the poor country play with like, barefoot first.

So, that's why this is very popular because it's a sports for everybody.

- There were lots of controversies around this World Cup regarding women's rights.

And, that's just one example; workers' rights.

However, this is not the first World Cup that has happened in difficult context.

I mean, and we can say the same thing about the Olympics.

Henrik, do you have any comments about that?

I mean, there was a World Cup in Italy during Mussolini; there was a World Cup in Argentina during the military dictatorship.

And, in 1978 in particular, that was a very-- it's a controversial one because of that in Argentina.

- Well, yeah.

What happened was that basically was the tournament was given to the democracy and when it came was a very bad dictatorship who kill and disappear thousands and thousands of people.

What it did-- I think that soccer in this way was a big propaganda for the military.

I think that governments, they like to have the World Cup because, one, it's good for their own people.

They enjoy this party, except Qatar that they don't enjoy so much soccer there, the majority.

But, all the countries that usually get the soccer they have this passion.

And then, is a propaganda for the government to try to wash their human rights abuses with propaganda, with other things.

And then-- - [Pilar] Yeah.

- in the case of Argentina, what had happened that Argentina became champion there.

So, it really extended the life of the dictatorship sometime more because suddenly everybody forgot what was happening there in some way that the people.

And the words I've been saying is that from the stadium that Argentina became champion, just some blocks away was one of the world centers of torture-- - [Pilar] Yes.

- and to disappear people.

But, you know-- what it creates, soccer- and one of the weird stories of these times was that in the place where some of the disappear and the people who were working for the military in a slave position or slavery kind of thing, they watched together the soccer games and they celebrate the goals at the same time!

For a period of time, these-- some people who was really in bad situations they joined their captors to celebrate something.

So, the soccer has some kinda-- like any sports, has a destruction factor.

Has a destruction factor, and at the same time you have, as we said in Qatar, a lot of people complain, countries complain the whole thing.

But, eventually everybody go and play because soccer unfortunately is stronger than many, many other things.

And, the passion goes over any kind of reasoning or values at some point, no?

- Yeah.

Good point, Henrik.

Charles, I don't know if you wanna comment about that, but I was gonna ask you about the African players going to play.

For example, Qatar's team, it's full of African players.

And so many teams, so a way-- a few World Cups back, we saw the France team that won the World Cup was basically mainly African players.

So, what about the point of immigrants play, you know, moving to other-- playing with the national team in the World Cup.

Is that a good thing?

(he chuckles) - I think that if you become an international diplomat, if you have good soccer skills, okay?

(chuckles) Football is proving now that if you are a very good soccer player, football player, you don't have a country.

Okay?

So, you go where the opportunity is.

And, one thing that comes to play with football especially looking at the case of Cameroon, where you have like Kylian Mbappé who is a child of Cameroonian descent, that is one of the world's best soccer players today, not playing for Cameroon because the opportunity based on the immigration of his family is in France.

Okay?

So, you see how the-- how complex this whole global sport is in the sense of how dominant you can become because of your football skills.

You have people like Eto'o Fils; you had Diego Maradona; you had Roger Milla.

You had all these big-- Messi?

They don't even play in Argentina, or even Ronaldo.

They play in Europe most of the time.

And now, we are seeing in Africa we are exporting a lot of talent all over the world from Africa!

(chuckles) We have a lot of talent.

Africa: Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia.

We've been exporting a lot of talent in football to the European leagues, even to Turkey.

In the U.S. as you could see with Weahs-- Weah and other young kid, Musah, in the American team, you can see the impact of global immigration.

I think we are really meant to work together as a universe.

I think football is beginning to demonstrate that humanity should learn to work together when it comes to music, to sports, when it comes to these things which you find, I think, it's a very, very good place to see the world collaborating and exchanging value on something that is fun!

(laughs) And, that's where Africa-- I'm proud of Africans, especially when I see how much they've impacted global football today.

- Henrietta Burroughs, I want you to ask your question.

- [Henrietta] Thanks so much, Pilar.

Charles, you touched on this in your last remarks and I'd like to hear maybe an expansion from you and the others.

What impact do you think having a world soccer competition will have in furthering better relations among countries?

- That is a wonderful, wonderful question.

The impact I see?

When you see the visuals of the participation, the engagement on the soccer field, on the football field- when you see those teams, somehow it calms down tensions.

When I watch, for instance, Iran playing against the USA, now, I could have some empathy for the Iranians that I would not have usually had (chuckles) without watching those boys work together and trying to fight for their sovereign nation on the football field.

At the same time, I had a lot of empathy for my American brothers that are playing on the soccer field, trying to defend our nation.

And, somewhere soccer brings that out of you.

Football brings that empathy, brings that emotion out of you that you get to be on an equal stage.

You're sharing the stage together instead of sharing the stage as far away from one another.

It brings us together in that sense.

Now, but there is always going to be that subliminal tension of "I have to beat you or you beat me," okay?

(chuckles) That tension is always there, but at least the fact that we are working together on that soccer field together.

You even see when an Iranian player goes down or an American player goes down, you see the hand of an Iranian carrying the American brother on the soccer field because on the soccer pitch or the football pitch, we are all brothers.

We're all playing for one motive.

We're playing to have fun and to win the game.

So, I think in that sense-- I know in that sense, and then using football as a friendly matches where there might be issues with the country and you now do a friendly match.

Say for instance, if the USA were to do a friendly match with Iran, it will bring those people together because they have to come together on a big soccer or football stadium and participate.

And, that exchange is always good in terms of taking down, bringing down, it is encouraging tolerance with one another.

- I am thinking in 1982 the Argentina and the British had a war for an island there in the South Atlantic-- - 1982, yes.

The Falklands.

- And, in '86 it was a game against Argentina versus England.

So, this game, although was a game, was very much seen as an opportunity to win something, to have a revenge.

And, sometimes soccer gives these feelings because they are nations against nations.

Sometimes are very, very friendly and brotherly and sometimes are not necessary.

But, eventually I think that brings the same humanity that we like the same sport (ahem) and we enjoy the same passion.

So, this will bring us together even in confrontation times.

- Here in North America, we're gonna have-- I think it's the first time World Cup it's gonna be played in three countries, Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

I think that's pretty special.

What do y'all think about that?

- This is gonna be a little bit different because we have a lot of team now.

I think we're gonna be over 40 teams.

So anybody play soccer, you will qualify for the World Cup.

So, it is for U.S. or Mexico or Canada doesn't have to host it to qualify.

You're gonna qualify anyway 'cause every-- now we have a four team coming from the CONCACAF from Mexico and America group.

So, after this World Cup, they're gonna be maybe six or seven.

So, anyway, we're gonna have big numbers.

I think in FIFA they try to make more money, try to get more sponsored.

That's why they get more team involved, so they get more company sponsors.

So, it's kind of like gain into the commercial thing, not fun more.

They get more-- we're gonna have a lot of different, like, average and weak team playing World Cup.

- I think that will-- it's gonna be a very interesting tournament.

There are gonna be more teams.

There are gonna be more games to watch, more teams to play, and FIFA gonna make a lot of more money.

And, I think that everybody's gonna be happy.

And so, I think that everything is good.

- World Cup coming back to the U.S., first of all because it's gonna be very exciting in the sense that it's going to unify not America in a way that has never happened before in terms of engagement, in terms of how the U.S. looks at the Mexicans, how the Mexicans also will be engaged with the U.S.

It will be very interesting.

And, also it tells me I've been in America for a long time.

I came to America in 1994!

So-?

(laughs) - The year when the World Cup was held here, right?

- Yes, yes.

- Yes.

- That's when I came to America.

- [Pilar] I remember.

- Yeah.

So, it brings some really great memories back too, for me personally.

I'll be celebrating.

I think I will stop everything and I want to attend every game possible that I can possibly attend!

(laughs) - Thank you, everyone.

[soft keyboard music] This has been fun and interesting.

I don't know if Sandy wants to say something.

I always want Sandy to end and to give her impressions.

- It's just so wonderful to listen and enjoy what everybody had to say.

My only regret is that I'm so old to start becoming a soccer fan.

But, I think you all have converted me!

I am going to really start watching the games.

Thank you!

- Well, there you go.

- [Charles] Thank you very much.

- Thank you, everyone, for being with us!

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