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Zohran Mamdani - why he loves Arsenal and hates hydration breaks

7/6/202617 min

Gary Lineker sits down with the Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani to talk soccer, his Arsenal origin story and get his views on the impact the World Cup is having in his city and beyond

They also talk ticket prices, hydration breaks, and some of the wider issues surrounding the tournament

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Clips

53-Year Knicks Wait Ends
Fighting $50,000 Seats
Visa Denials Betray Tournament
"Soccer" Is A British Word
Football As First Language
Expanded Format Wins Doubters

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Gary Lineker· Host0:00

    [upbeat music] Mayor, can I say it's lovely to meet you.

  2. Zohran Mamdani· Guest0:11

    Um, thank you.

  3. Gary Lineker· Host0:12

    Pleasure's all mine.

  4. Zohran Mamdani· Guest0:12

    And thank you for giving us your time. I have watched and heard a lot of politicians over many, many years pretending to like football- [laughs] ... or soccer, and I know, and I've listened to you a lot, you, that you are a genuine f- football fan. Um, where did that come from? Yeah, I think I have to credit my uncle.

  5. Gary Lineker· Host0:32

    Yeah.

  6. Zohran Mamdani· Guest0:32

    You know, he, he introduced me to the game, especially to Arsenal.

  7. Gary Lineker· Host0:35

    Yeah.

  8. Zohran Mamdani· Guest0:36

    You know, I was born in Uganda in East Africa.

  9. Gary Lineker· Host0:37

    Yeah.

  10. Zohran Mamdani· Guest0:38

    And late '90s, early 2000s, Arsene Wenger, incredible African talent on the team, and through that I saw the city that I had called home, the country that I was born in, and then the world that I wanted to be a part of.

  11. Gary Lineker· Host0:51

    Oh, well, I'm sorry it was Arsenal.

  12. Zohran Mamdani· Guest0:52

    [laughs] [laughs] I won't say what I think of Tottenham.

  13. Gary Lineker· Host0:54

    [laughs] No. No, you best not. [laughs] You best not.

  14. Zohran Mamdani· Guest0:56

    I'll leave it there.

  15. Gary Lineker· Host0:57

    Yeah, you'll leave it there.

  16. Zohran Mamdani· Guest0:58

    Big signings you guys have had this summer, huh?

  17. Gary Lineker· Host1:00

    Tottenham have gone for it, yeah.

  18. Zohran Mamdani· Guest1:01

    Where's the money coming from?

  19. Gary Lineker· Host1:02

    Well, I think they've just finally decided to spend a bit of it.

  20. Zohran Mamdani· Guest1:04

    [laughs] It's like 170 million.

  21. Gary Lineker· Host1:05

    You've gotta compete with Arsenal at some point- Yeah ... 'cause it's just getting too out of hand.

  22. Zohran Mamdani· Guest1:08

    Yeah.

  23. Gary Lineker· Host1:09

    Especially, like, y- you won the, you must've been delighted by that.

  24. Zohran Mamdani· Guest1:11

    Oh, my God.

  25. Gary Lineker· Host1:12

    I mean, what a, what a couple of months it's been for you.

  26. Zohran Mamdani· Guest1:14

    Yeah.

  27. Gary Lineker· Host1:14

    The Knicks.

  28. Zohran Mamdani· Guest1:15

    Yeah.

  29. Gary Lineker· Host1:15

    I was here in New York for that. We were, I, it was, my goodness.

  30. Zohran Mamdani· Guest1:19

    Incredible.

  31. Gary Lineker· Host1:20

    Yeah.

  32. Zohran Mamdani· Guest1:20

    It meant everything. It was 53 years of wait, of heartbreak, of hope, of near misses. We hadn't even been in the finals

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