Piers Morgan Uncensored - Piers Morgan Uncensored: Nadia Nadim

Episode Date: November 29, 2022

On tonight's special edition of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Piers is back and live from the World Cup in Qatar. Danish striker Nadia Nadim reflects with Piers on overcoming adversity to become one of the greatest female footballers as she grieves the recent sudden loss of her mother. Former Arsenal chief David Dein and retired US soccer player Alexi Lalas also join Piers. Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored at 8 pm on TalkTV on Sky 522, Virgin Media 606, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217. Listen on DAB+ and the app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight, our Pierce Morgan are censored live in Qatar. England, thumped Wales and the Battle of Britain will get the reaction to the result, and America beat Iran. Plus superstar Danish striker and ITV football pundit Nadia Nadine on her extraordinary journey fleeing Afghanistan as a child refugee and reaching the very top of international football and commentating here at the World Cup only for tragedy to strike. From Qatar, this is Pierce Morgan Uncensored at the World Cup.

Good evening from Qatar, the night where England beat Wales 3-0 to book their place in the World Cup last 16. Two second half goals from Marcus Rashford, one from Phil Foden secured the win. Over the top for Rashford. Wilson and Foden in the box. Rashford. Cracking wind for England and also any second now a cracking win it looks like for the US against Iran, which means they will progress also to the last 16. So a big night for England, a big night for America. Outside the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium is Talk TV's Holly Hudson, who's been there where England have been, frankly, thrashing Wales.

Holly, a great night for England, a brilliant result, nine goals now on this World Cup for England, and not a single one for Harry Kane. Can you hear me, Holly? I think Holly's waiting for me to talk, but unfortunately can't hear a word I'm saying. So we'll come back to Holly when we can try and restore the connection. I'm going to move on now to a quite extraordinary story,

and this was brought to my attention, attention a week ago last Tuesday where Nadia Nadim who played for Denmark over a hundred times one of the top female players in the world was commentating for ITV in a game involving Denmark here at the World Cup when incredibly sadly she discovered the news that her mother had died back in Denmark in a terrible road accident where she was hit by another vehicle and it made me check in to her story and it really is a quite remarkable story of a young woman whose father was executed by the Taliban who then fled with her mother and sisters as refugees to Denmark and when they got to Denmark she then built

a career as a footballer became one of the best female players to ever play the game and as I'm speaking you can hear that's the result in the US Iran match it's official America's gone through to the last 16 congratulations to them of course I'll talk to Nadir about that let's take look first of all at a little package about Nadia's journey so far to get here to this World Cup. Nadia Nadim was born in Afghanistan at the age of 11 her father a general in the Afghan National Army was executed by the Taliban. Her mother fled the country with her five daughters selling their possessions to fund their escape. On forged passports they traveled by truck to Italy and then onto a refugee camp in Denmark and it was there that she discovered football up to

to sing a group of children playing it over a fence. And despite not speaking any English or Danish, she gestured to the coach that she wanted to play, and he let her join him. Well, Nadia went on to play for the Danish national team over 100 times for her adopted homeland. And last week, Nadia was on air covering the World Cup. But her joy at this career high as a broadcaster

was sadly tarnished by the terrible news that her mother had been killed in a road accident. Let's have a look how the table is after all that. I'm afraid Nadia's had to leave us at short notice. Despite losing the person she called the most important in her life, Nadia returned to work and was back on air within days. And Nadia joins me now. Nadia, thank you so much for joining me. At first, my deepest condolences to you on the loss of your mother.

It was an awful thing to hear about here at the World Cup. We were all aware of what had happened and you had to leave very suddenly. And then we found out why your mother had been killed in this accident. But it also made me go away and, and research you and your life, because I didn't know much about you, if I'm honest. And what I found was quite extraordinary. And I wanted to get you on the show

just to really talk about first what's happened to you in the last seven days, but also to talk about why your mother was so important to you. And this extraordinary journey you went on with her from Afghanistan to get you to where you are today. So thank you, first of all, and my deepest condolences, as I say, to you and all your family. Thank you.

You were commentating last week. It was last Tuesday. Yeah. And you suddenly get told that your mother has died in this awful accident. Yeah. That for you must have been just given all you'd been through together. Yeah. A terrible moment.

Yeah, definitely. You know, I think, as you said, Tunisia versus Denmark sitting there and I started receiving a lot of messages from family. No one was really telling me what was happening. Everyone was like, have you heard? Are you on your way? And finally, in second half, I got a call from my cousin. And he had told me that my mom had passed away.

And for the first 10 minutes, I wasn't believe in it. I was like, I can't be. My mom was a healthy woman, you know, 57 years old. Like, I couldn't really believe it, especially the way they told me. It was like an accident. And, yeah, flew back home. And, yeah, it was the reality. So definitely heartbroken, unexpected, not only for me, but an entire family.

And the really sad part of this was that she'd gone to the gym early so that she could get back in time to watch you commentating because that was what she was so proud of. And, you know, that's just a twist of faith. Yeah, definitely. I think one thing that I know in life for sure is that nothing's 100%. And everything happened right away. And as I said, we did not expect it.

And her dying that way is hard because I was, you know, expecting to live and be with her for the next 20 years. One of the closest persons in my life, I mean the closest person, one of the strongest women I've ever encountered in my life. And not just because she was my mom, but because the hardships she's been going through. And how she raised us, you know, five kids alone actually took us from one continent. into another. And, yeah, losing her life that way, it hurt me. But on the other hand, it's, you know, I have her in me and her, you know, spirit, her fighting mentality and now I'm going to do everything in my hands to make her proud.

You know, the mere fact you come back to the World Cup says that. I mean, that's exactly the kind of spirit that your mother had that she would have wanted you to show. And I want to take you back now to Afghanistan. First of all, you're living there with your parents and you're, four sisters, I think you have. Yeah. And your father is in the Afghan military.

He's a general, I think, is that right? And he was murdered by the Taliban when you were just 11 years old. Yeah. What are your memories of that awful time? I mean, yeah, 11 years old. Vivid memories. I remember everything.

It was a very... Until that point, you know, I think my life's been always very protective. My dad was general. My mom was a school teacher. lecture later on and we've always been very protected but after the Taliban gained power killed my dad because obviously he had a very high position in the in the army and everything all for that it was just like chaos we were trying to survive for a very long time trying to make

it in the country but it was hard you know five girls and a mom single mom you went into hiding I think yes quite a while yeah and then you went to Pakistan you've got some stolen passports and you eventually find yourselves in Denmark. I think you thought you were going to England at one stage. Yeah. And a funny story, huh? We had family in England, and at that point, obviously we wanted to be reunited with our family.

But Faye didn't want us to end up in England for some reason. And honestly, I don't really care because we were together and we were in safety, and that's the point of the entire thing. And there's an amazing moment. You're in Denmark, and you're in like an asylum camp, a refugee camp. and you look over a fence and you see some kids playing football. And you've never played the game, I don't think, until that point. You don't speak either English or Danish, but you're desperate to get involved.

And eventually the coach who's teaching these kids says, come on then. You can join in. Yeah. What was it about football that you were drawn to? I mean, there's so many things I'm drawn to the game. I remember one of the first time I saw a girls team play. the goals who are playing, they looked happy and they looked free. And me coming from a country where I had to be in hiding and always felt unsafe,

that was something that attracted me. And you'd also been prevented from going to school? Yes. By the Taliban. Yeah, correct. So, I don't know, it's just the game was speaking to me, and I wanted to be that person on the field. And, you know, it was one of those moments struck by lighting,

and my eyes were widened up, and I was like, I want to be that kid. And, you know, I have this, I don't know, I always thought it was from my kids. my dad's side, this fire inside of me, but I for sure know now it's from my mom's side. Probably both, right? Yeah, I guess so. It's a combination. And it turns out you are unbelievably good at football. In fact, you go on to play for Denmark over 100 times.

You score in a European championship final. You're a brilliant player. You're one of the great female footballers that's ever been. And yet it was all really just fortuitous. the luck of the draw of life that took you from Afghanistan to Denmark and then this remarkable career. Fate. Yeah. I do believe in fate.

And I think also one of the reasons I can sit here today after less than seven, well, six days, seven days, my mom passed away. Because I'm an emotional person, but I'm very also irrational thinking, you know. I think what's meant to be, it's meant to be. And I try to find a positive area situation I am in. And I think football gave me a little bit. life and you know my background brought me to football and then football gave me the life I have today and yeah I want to take it and I want to do as much as good possible most people would say that's enough drama horror challenges for one

life but not you you've decided to become doctor and you're now involved in in surgery in repairing bodies effectively right yeah actually graduate as a doctor just January 14th. I haven't finished becoming surgeon yet. This is something I'm going to qualify whenever I'm done. But yeah, doctor is a big thing. My mom, that was one of her wishes, you know, one of our kids to be a doctor.

And now she has two doctors and two nurses and her family. And you've been around reconstructive surgeons, I know. Yeah. And you talked about how some of the skills you need to be a very super confident football player. actually are quite similar to the skills you need to be a top surgeon. Yeah, definitely.

I think you have to be able to work under pressure, the responsibility I really like, and also feels like the adrenaline that you have on the surgeries. It's very similar to scoring a goal. What's scary? Being in a surgical room with a real patient and trying to save their life or playing a European championship final? I don't think none of them are scary, to be honest. they're both equally exciting how many languages do you speak quite a lot how many uh fully around nine

which ones so um i speak danish english french um german german hindi persian dari urdu speak i understand obviously swish and norwegian because they're quite similar to to is there anything you can't do that probably is quite a lot of things i don't know yet but But if I start focusing on them, I'm probably going to learn them. I mean, it's a remarkable story. And I'm, again, so sorry about the loss of your mother because it's now so apparent to me why she was such a pivotal person in your life.

You know, you made this journey with it from Afghanistan to Denmark. Without her, I guess none of you would have made it. You're 100% correct. And I, you know, I really feel she gave us life twice once when she gave birth to me and second time when she took me from Afghanistan to Denmark to have a better future brighter future and yeah it's someone that I'm gonna always remember and I want to remember the gifts you know the happy memories I had with her what kind of woman was your name is Hedema

Amita what kind of woman was she my mom was a very stubborn woman if she once set her mind to something she'll go for it and it didn't matter if the entire world was against her she's very intelligent and then just like this little lady with so much energy in her, so much power and someone who people listen to and she touched so many people's lives and even to a funeral it was a Friday 9.30 and I we just announced a day before because I'm a Muslim and our religion you have to bury you know as soon as possible and there were like thousand people there and and it just showed what kind of human

being she was someone who touched people's hearts. Do you feel like she's with you in spirit? Yeah, definitely. I think that's also the reason I'm so calm. I said, I believe in faith. I believe she's in a better place and what's meant to be is meant to be. And for me to lay down and and, you know, cry my eyes out for months and months, I don't think that's going to fix anything. She's not going to come back. If that was the case, trust me, I'll be the one doing that. So I try to, you know, take that energy, those emotions and put it to something that, you know, will remember her, honor her. And hopefully for me, you know, bring me further in life.

You're only 34 years old and you've experienced so much in your life. What's next for you, do you think? I hope less drama in that ways, less tragedy. I hope that, you know, I can grow into a person who can have an impact not only of you. on my life and people around me, but, you know, people who are neat, that's something that I'm passionate about. That's something my mom was passionate about. So, yeah, and I work hard for it.

We're going to talk football tonight, obviously. What do you make of the World Cup so far? Who are your picks to perhaps win it? Honestly, I've been enjoying the World Cup, you know, watching the games at the stadiums, it's been a great atmosphere. For me, there's a couple of teams who've been doing very well. I think we can all agree on that Brazil looks very sharp. The reason for me they're looking so good

and probably one of my favorites to win this tournament because they're so balanced as a team. They have great strikers, not one player. They have like, you know, four or five that can decide games. Great midfield, experience, back, and then two of the best Premier League keepers there is. Right. And France, before the World Cup,

I was counting them a bit out because they're missing. You know, the engine and Pogba and Conte. But actually with the two young midfielders, they've been doing very well. You know what? When you've got Killing Mbapé up front, and he's playing like he is,

I guess. You can win anything. Yeah, that's fact. Well, let's see when the games are getting, you know, a bit harder if he's gonna maintain a lot of very excited American fans. I mean, it's a massive moment for Team US because they've beaten Iran. Obviously, a very highly charged fixture that historically. A lot of tension building up to it, but America have gone through to the last 16.

Who knows? Maybe England, America in the final. That's very optimistic. I'm sorry to say so. But you know what? This workup is shown that everything can happen and it's football. If I said to you, will Saudi ever be Argentina? You just said, don't be ridiculous. That's true. Facts. This is the World Cup where miracles are happening. Stay with me. Now, I've been going to take a short break. I won't be coming back. I'm going to get reaction to that England victory. Could England go all the way?

How far can US go? We're talking to experts on all sides of the park. Welcome back to Piers Morgan Unsensored. If you're wondering where we're filming the show from, we're here at this remarkable Fox Sport Complex here in Doha. It's the Corniche part of Doha in Qatar. And behind me, they're actually recording some shows for Fox Soccer, Fox Sports, over in the States.

I've been doing some punditry for them as well. But it really is remarkable. The three massive studios and a host of stars coming and going through the day and through the night, a huge operation with a lot of brilliant staff. We've also been very kindly putting our show together as well. We thank you, Team, for everything you've been doing. Thank you very much. We're talking to teams.

Everyone I think by now probably knows that my team allegiance is Arsenal Football Club. So I'm absolutely delighted to be joined by the man who transformed my club, from the mediocre minnows of the Premier League, to the all-conquering champions. because he brought this strange guy in called Arsend Benga, who we'd never heard of. And he'd been in Japan who were like, he's lost his mind, this guy. But David Dean knew what he was talking about. He was a vice chairman of Arsenal, and the rest is history.

He won the league three times in eight years, a host of other trophies, and became the best team in the world, probably ever. And David Dean is with me now? David, great to see it. And Nadia's kindly agreed to stay with us. David, a lot of speculation. Well, first of all, your reaction to the response.

tonight England. What did you think? Very satisfied. It was we started off very slowly as a bit of a pedestrian first half, but certainly woke up in the second half and it was a very good accomplished performance and I'm delighted for the team and for all the fans. Who would have thought that we could score nine goals at a World Cup and Harry Kane wouldn't get any of them? There you go. Well, it's a good problem for Southgate to have. Everyone's banging in goals apart from the guy who normally does. That's right. But you're only as good as your last game. We're to keep winning. What does Southgate do now with this? team because now there's a lot of competition for places. He brought Phil Foden back in. I think after you read my column in the sun, I'm not sure, demanding Foden start, but he was great tonight. Marcus Rashford was on fire tonight. I don't see how he can drop Rashford, but he can't play Rashford, Sterling, Saker,

Foden and Kane, and Mount, and Grealish. Yes. Piers, we're all frustrated managers, aren't we? Who would you put... And I can see you are. If we're Senegal in the next round we've got, right? on Sunday evening, I think. Who would you put in that front five?

I'm very pleased I'm not the manager because he's got to stand up to be counted and he'll be judged on his performance the team's performance. Now, what do you think? Who would you put now? If you were Garry Southgate, obviously Kane starts, so who'd you put around Kane?

That's hard. And who do you drop? Who do you ruin their World Cup? I don't know. I think Rush would have been doing well, so I'll choose him and then also soccer because I'm also Arsenal fans. I think you've got to play soccer on the right.

Foden in behind Kane. Rashford, I mean, one of them's going on the left. They can't both, couldn't they? It's a pleasant problem to have. Yeah. Luxus. It's a good problem. Let's turn to the World Cup more generally

because, David, you've been one of the top football executives for many decades now. You know how it all works. Let's start, first of all, with all the noise around FIFA as an organization. You've dealt with them over the years. How much of the criticism is justified? Well, I think perhaps initially, certainly when the bid process went on, it was definitely flawed.

There's no question about that. However, that was 12 years ago. We have to move on. We've decided to put a team into the World Cup. We've qualified, and we've got to give them the best support we possibly can. And I really feel sorry for people who haven't come out here because they're missing a lot. They're missing a phenomenal tournament. I have personally seen 15 out of the last 16 World Cups.

My first World Cup was 1960. 15 out of 16. Have you really? At 16. What four a day you'd be going to? No, no. I'm talking about World Cups. Oh, right.

The games. How many games are you going to do it? Four a day. I've been in heaven. I've been obviously going around with us. We've been seeing four games a day. Out of all the games, we've only missed two out of the whole. I just want to interrupt because there's a man chanting,

Piers Morgan is a legend. And I wouldn't like to think the cameras hadn't picked that up. So just want to make sure we got that on camera. You sure he didn't say leg end? How many World Cuts have you been to? World Cups, the first one was 1966 at Wembley when we won it. I was won. Yes.

So I went to that one. I've been to 15 since then, missing out one in 1982 in Spain. Otherwise, I've seen everyone. 15 World Cups. And peers out of all of them, this has to rank right at the top. This is as good if not, better than any other. Funny enough, I saw Graham Sooners this morning. He said the same thing.

Best he'd been to. It's been phenomenal. The whole organisation of it. You know, people are quick to criticize and slow to praise. Qatar deserve a lot of praise for the way they've put it on. Last night we went to the game at Lusail Stadium. It finished at 5 to 12. I was back in the hotel at quarter past 12.

Couldn't do that at Wembley. Should politics ever get involved with sport? I don't think so. Because where does it end? Sport is a sport. Football is a sport. And we've got to treat it as such. And once you start introducing politics are in trouble

because we could have 32 countries here with different political messages. Where does it end? All of which have their own problems. And, you know, FIFA do deserve some credit. And I think Gianni and Fentino, particularly the president, obviously, everybody gets, it's easy to criticize somebody. But it's been a magnificent World Cup. You can't, I mean, the accommodation's been great.

The transport has been wonderful. I mean, look, I think the problem he felt to me was that press conference he gave, where he slightly over-egged the souffle. He went on a bit too passionately. And when he began telling everybody, I'm gay, I'm Arabic, and I'm everything else, I was. I was like, where's this going to finish? He's like, he seemed to be everything. But don't forget, he has been a bit, he's been a bit hammered by certain members of the press.

Sure. I don't think you're amongst that lot, are you? What does you make of it? I mean, it's a hard job running FIFA. But I knew what he was trying to say. He was trying to say, look, there's a lot of hypocrisy, which I think there is. I've been on this myself.

But he probably slightly overdid it. Yeah, definitely. I think, you know, I don't think he knows how it feels to truly be, in someone else's shoes that way. He always explained it. But I think his message was kind of that that we should be a bit more tolerant, you know, and football is the beautiful game that can unite.

And it's for everyone. And this region deserves also to experience World Cup. And I think it's going to do great things for the region, not only for Qatar. You've had a bit of criticism back home. Yeah. Everybody who seems to come in. I got criticized for coming.

I don't care whether you think I should not. I've been to the Middle East a lot. in my life. I like the Middle East. I like the people here. I think they deserve a bit more respect for what they're doing here. And that doesn't mean you ignore the areas where they could certainly be improving. But I don't think England's in any great shape to extol their moral virtue on other countries. What do you think of this argument about the morality of it all? Honestly, as you said, to be honest, I don't really understand it. For me, this was the decision that was been taken 12 years ago. And now that we're here, we should.

should try to make the best out of it. I think there's problems everywhere. And trying to highlight one thing extremely for so long time. I think it's a bit too much. What I see in a way is that football is a great tool to bring change, to educate, to improve. Just the fact that we're sitting here talking about, about, you know, what could be better.

That's a change. You can spin any of these numbers. Like, I mean, there are so many millions. of migrants. There are two and a half million migrants here. How many countries would allow 90 or percent of their population to be migrants, right? And they come here to earn more money than they could from the countries they come from in almost every case. Yes, there have been a number of deaths. Yes, those should be investigated. Yes, the conditions have had to be improved. So therefore, that's an admission. Things weren't as good as they should be. But I was

speaking to some women yesterday, Qatari women. Everyone in Qatar gets free education, for example. I I didn't know that. They said there's gender pay equality throughout all official bodies, including the government. And so on and so on. It's not quite how people may be in Denmark or England think it is here. No, I don't think that's correct exactly. You know, I think some of the Western media has been taking one thing and kind of spin it. And I love people that come here. They said, well, I was imagining something totally differently. And to be very frank, you know, It's not because I'm trying to build your, like, you know, paint your picture does not. But I'm just, whether it deserves credit, you should give it.

And for me, this World Cup so far has been brilliant. David, putting on a World Cup is an unbelievably difficult thing. And I think we can all agree that so far, it's run very, very well. No traffic problems. The stadiums are out of this world. If you want to drink, you can get one very easily in restaurants and bars all over the town, hotels. There's no real problem with that. I personally rather like the fact the fans can't all get drunk inside the stadiums.

Because I was at the Wembley Euro's final last year and frankly, it was a complete disgrace. I agree with you. And the capacity, they're running now at 97% capacities of virtually every stadium is full every game. Well, that atmosphere tonight. America, Iran was probably the best atmosphere so far. There you go. Well, I thought Argentina and Mexico was really rich. I mean, that was wonderful.

And nearly 90,000 people. and a lot of the Argentinian fans, the Mexican fans, were side by side. You know, and I mean, for FIFA, this has been a phenomenal success. It really has. What about the allegations which are swelled around FIFA for decades of corruption? You know all these people. We know that a lot of them have been caught with their fingers in Matil. So the corruption has clearly been real and clearly been going on.

Should FIFA go through a wholesale reformation, do you think? Well, no, but I think, in fairness, when Johnny and, don't forget, But he inherited that mess. And to his great credit, I think he's actually cleaned up the shop. So I think he deserves something for that, for the way FIFA currently being run. Of course, everybody's going to be critical. He's got 211 mouths to feed. Not everybody's going to be satisfied.

That goes with the territories. I mean, there's huge money in a World Cup. And where there's huge money, there's always corruption, for some thought. It is. We can be cynical. But meanwhile, this tournament will gross something like $7 billion. dollars, right? You've got to say that is a huge success. It's wonderful. It's why and it all gets recycled back into football around the world. I certainly think, Adam, you're walking around

Qatar. I know you've had to sadly to leave to be at your mother's funeral, but I've been here for five days now, just walking around and milling around with regular fans. And all around the world. A, you get a sense of the scale of a world come, the sheer volume of country, supporters, walking around with flags and everything. Secondly, a lot of happiness, no real, incidents, no fighting, no vomiting in the street. I mean, it's been a very, feels like a very safe and happy event to me. Yeah, definitely. I've been enjoying it. As you said, you know, the atmosphere of the vibe is very, very nice, pleasant, safe. The fans are enjoying themselves. The fan zones are full. I've been a couple of times, you know, fan festival.

What's he been like to be a woman in Qatar for you? For me, for me, it's been the same. For me, it's been the same. as it is everywhere, you know, I felt safe like in U.S. and Europe. As I said, it's very hard to point fingers if you haven't really experienced in yourself. And this is a way for us to educate. You know, I think football has that power to educate. Because you read something or you heard something without actually being there. Also, you coming from Afghanistan where you were deprived in education by the Taliban. And now millions of young girls in Afghanistan are once again being deprived in education by the Taliban.

Taliban to come to a country like Katta, which is a small country, but where education is free for all, including all girls, I mean, that's not a thing to turn our noses up back. No, I think that's amazing. I think that's a great example to set. That should be a norm anywhere, you know, free education. But unfortunately, that's not the case. Who is going to win the World Cup? Come on.

You know your football. Well, I think Nadia wasn't far wrong when she, I think you went for Brazil. Brazil. I think France won't be too far away. I don't think Portugal will be far away. They won't be. They look good. And I have to tell you, yesterday was one, I mean, we're seeing, I mean, I'm obviously,

I'm going around a lot with Arsend. We saw, we're seeing four games a day. And yesterday after the Ghana game where they were playing Korean, it was a wonderful game of football. Yeah. We were coming to Lussel for the five, the fourth game. I said to Marcen, are you ready for another game? He said, I'm ready for two.

With this will be unique. You will not see another world. World Cup with four games. Can England win it? Put your neck out. If we win all the next games, we can win it. Wow. I think we can beat Senegal.

Then we're in the quarterfinals, right? Then who knows? Anything can happen in the World Cup. You've been there, you've been in the European Final. Yeah. Anything can happen. That's football, you know? Yeah.

Listen, thank you, particularly for coming back to the World Cup. That takes a lot of guts. And I send my very best to you and all your family as well. And I can see the spirit of both your father and your mother in you. Well, not having met them, but knowing what they did, I can see it in you. So thank you very much. Thank you for having. And David, great to see it.

As always. I bet you better get your bed because you're presumed you're off another four game tomorrow. Well, only two, I'm afraid. We can't be four. But we'll be. Final question for you. Arsenal, five points clear of the Premier League. Is it coming back?

Are we going to win the league this season? I think we have a decent chance because everybody can beat everybody this year. Do we need to buy a top striker in? I think they have to be bold in the transfer market in January. Would be my advice. Get the big checkbook out. Would be my advice. What about Cristiana Manalo?

I'm not going to comment on. Put him up front with Jay-Zuse. Then you'd have God and Jesus. That's a good combination. That's a good one. I wish I'd have thought of that. Thank you both very much. Great pleasure.

Great to see you. Thank you very much indeed. Well, next to night, more reaction to the night's result from Team USA. I'll talk to Kobe Jones, the most cap US player in history. There he is. Welcome back to Piers Morgan Unsensored, which is live from Dohaar and Qatar, seen of course of the World Cup.

I'm joined now by the most capped U.S. international football player. Refused to use the word soccer on his set. Kobe Jones. Kobe, welcome to you. Thank you for joining me from the Fox. They call it Fox Soccer. It's Fox football. We know that, right?

No, no, I appreciate you having me here, but I do want you to understand. Since we did play better in the England game, is it soccer now? That's one of the most, You know, the worst statistic in world football, football, is that England have never beaten America in a competitive game of football. Amazing, isn't it? It's never happened.

I know. Trust me, I know. The only thing I'm hoping for is that we get to the final against you and just destroy it. Well, it's good to want. It's good to hope, you know, but when you have those realities right now, I think everybody around the world thinks that the U.S. is a better team based off of that performance. where the US play very well. Let me tell you. Only you lot could celebrate a nil-nill-nill draw. We're not celebrating.

As if you somehow reinvented the Civil War or something. It's not happening. Let me ask you about America as a, well, let's call it soccer, because in America you call it soccer. How big is the sport now? I mean, it's always been a sport, it seems to me, that boys would play until they were 16, 17, and then gravitate to other sport. Bigger for young girls.

girls and young women. But now it seems to me it's on the cusp potentially of breaking through. The ratings for Fox have been huge, this World Cup record numbers, the team looks as good as it's ever been. What do you feel? I feel that it's here. It's here to stay. It's established itself as a major sport and it's only continuing to grow. I think moments like this when you talk about the World Cup, this is when you see the exponential growth because it's been a steady growth. And then every World Cup, it grows, it has these leaps and bounds. And that was a big problem of when we did not qualify in the last World Cup. But now, I mean, from everything that I've seen and everything that I'm hearing back in the States,

it's taking off to another level once again. You played 164 games for the U.S. You must be exhausted on you. I am. And that was only in about 13, 14 years. Yeah, it wasn't a lot of time. It was all squeezed in and packed in. And I understand, like, the fan that really doesn't know a lot about that or what a cap is as far as representing your country.

It might not seem like a lot, but that's quite a bit, you know, because, you know, the norm, it's like celebrated if you get 100 caps, you know, and I feel that I was honored to represent. Now, I've always had a bugbear that American sport, you tend to call yourselves world champions in sports only Americans are allowed to play it. You're now in a tournament which actually genuinely does have the rest of the world allowed to compete again. Would it be the pinnacle of American sport to actually win a World Cup that's genuinely a world event? Well, look, first off, for all the other sports, everyone's invited. Feel free. Feel free to participate if you like. I'm going to bring the British baseball team.

There we go. Yeah. Go for it. Look, if we win the World Cup, I think that would set a mark like no other because we are looked upon within the soccer world as they're just starting out they don't know. So if we do get to a point where we get even get to the world. to a final, that's going to really have a profound impact, I think, on the game itself. It seems to me, looking at the team, young, hungry, dynamic.

I think average age was 24 tonight in the game against a much older, more experienced Iran, and they came through it. The one thing you're lacking as a team is a top striker. Would that be fair? I would say that's fair. How can you have 320 million people and not have a striker? We're still looking. We're still developing.

We've only got 60 million. We've got buckets of them. Yeah, but you've been playing the sport for hundreds of years. So you weren't better out of it. I've learned into my trap. You've just been playing longer, that's all. But we're getting there in a short amount of time. We're getting there.

And it's not an issue only for the US. There's a lot of teams that even at this World Cup that have a history that are still trying to figure out who their striker is going to be. Fox's, I think, rather cleverly, Fox sport, have kept out of all the politics that's been swirling around the tournament, which seems to me to be massively overblown. You've played a lot of football at international level. What do you think just generally about politics and sport?

I mean, it seems to me in recent years, a lot of sportsmen from Colin Kaepernick to LeBron James and American, we've had the same in England with a lot of Marcus Rashford and others, wanting to get involved in social justice issues, racial justice, all that kind of thing. Does that blur the line between politics and sport or not? Or should sportsmen do you think use their brands and their success to wider messages? Well, I think within the various events themselves, me personally, I would like to see it stick to sport.

But I do think the athletes should use their platform that they have to speak to the issues that are important to them. So it is a little bit of a combination of both. But for me, I love sport with a passion because of what it brings for people and everything that. you can learn about it and it breaks down barriers and allows people from different cultures. I mean, talking to Nadia Nadim earlier about her extraordinary story, which I didn't know much about, but to go from Afghanistan as a refugee to Denmark with your four sisters and your mom, your dad's been killed by the Taliban, and you end up in Denmark and you see kids playing football across a fence and you beg to play and then you become Denmark's most capped female player

and an iconic figure in female football. It's quite amazing. But that's what football can do, right? Yeah, that's what football can do. That's what sport can do. That's why it's so important that everyone has the opportunity to play. Because that sport really does bring everyone together. It's the common language.

And the World Cup in particular, I think. You've played in three World Cups. Three World Cups, yes. A lot of people saying this is the best World Cup they've been to in terms of organization. What do you think? I think it's a great World Cup. I think one of the big things that we see here,

It's a smaller area, so you have that opportunity, especially for the fan, to go to various games. Why don't people have walked around all day and watch four games? Yeah, that's amazing, right? That's amazing that you can go see a game in the morning and see a game in the evening. I don't think we'll have another World Cup where you'll be able to do that.

The next one is coming to America, along with Canada and Mexico. What will you be calling it when FIFA bring the Football World Cup to America? The greatest soccer event ever. Damn you. Kobe, great to see you. Pleasure.

Thank you very much. Appreciate you coming on. Well, next to night, more reaction and World Cup predictions. Don't go away. Welcome back to Piers Morgan Unsensored, live here in Doha, Qatar, which of course is the venue this year for the World Cup. I'm joined now by a friend of Pierce Morgan Unsensored, aviation expert Alex Wacheras, who's lived between Doha and London.

Alex, great to see it. Good to see it. We normally talk to you about aviation. which has been a big story, of course, the last few years. But I've also been aware that you often join us from Doha. Correct. From your Skype, from your home here, which you come and go to. You've lived through a long time on and off.

I suppose the obvious question is, are we being sold a bit of a mythological view of Qatar? Has it all been created to make us feel this way about Qatar while the World Cup's on? I think what you have experienced on this trip and what I know you've been doing since you've been here, I think you have actually got to know Qatar for what it is. And I think that's been the consensus among fans who have traveled here, experience what people are calling one of the best World Cups ever,

going to multiple matches a day. The other day was at three matches. You know, the unique nature of this tournament combined with the hospitality that Qataris are famous for, that the Middle East is famous for, and the way that this place has developed since they got the bid 12 years ago. How has it changed in the time you've been in? It's changed physically. The skyline behind us has changed.

It's changed in terms of infrastructure. It's changing the fact that now you can have over a million people arriving to the airport. clear immigration in five minutes, almost a million riding the metro every day, going between games. But also society has been ready for this World Cup. Is the place perfect? Where is, as you've been saying? But I think this has been an important project that they've been focused on, that they have been

able to make great reforms as a result. And it's been a chance for the whole world to gather here and experience the best. It's not come at a lack of human cost. I want to play a clip from last night, my interview with Hassan Altowadi. He's really Mr. World Cup here. Right. In which he made a concession about the number of migrant workers who've died. Just play this.

Do you know how many migrant workers have died as a result of any construction since the announcement of the bid? We decided to capture, and we made a decision in terms of obviously work-related deaths as defined under the industry standard, but also capturing what we consider to be non-work-related deaths. And this is only purely in relation to the stadiums

and the projects that we're responsible for. And what are those totals? And that's three work-related deaths and 37 non-work-related deaths. Right. What is the honest, realistic total, do you think, of migrant workers who've died from, as a result, of what they're doing for the World Cup in totality? The estimate is around 400. Between 400 and 500, I don't have the exact number. An interesting omission. It's made a lot of news, actually, around the world that admission, because everyone has taken a figure from the Guardian of 6,500, which people quickly worked out was not accurate. That was the total number of migrant workers who died of anything in the last 12 years.

years and that's natural causes included. But to say that four to five hundred migrant workers have died over a probably a 10 year period here in all construction around the entire city, it's not a small amount of people. It's not. And of course, no one is going to diminish the travesties of that. But I think what's important is that, you know, Hassan Thawadi has come forward to ultimately speak up about it. When you're asking him the questions, I think a lot of the time they find in this place that they're never given the chance to provide those answers or they're running with, as you say, Guardian articles. And there are reforms in place.

I mean, I'm sure, you know, over the last 12 years. Well, they're definitely made labor law reforms, and that is a significant part of the legacy from this World Cup, along with other things. Now, I want to show you a scenes of Americans celebrating earlier their win tonight over Iran. Big game, obviously. A lot of his to play clubs.

Let's watch a little. We haven't got it. What we have got is an annoying American. Here he is. Oh, say, does that star spangled banner yet wait? for the land of the free and the home of the brave. My God.

Can you sit down, please? I mean, imagine what they're like that you win a quarterfinal. Unbelievable. Oh, it's coming home, dear. It's coming on to America, baby. It can't actually come home if it's never, A, being created here, and you've never won it before.

You understand. We are taking it. Oh, big night. Congratulations to your team. You know what? Let's just agree. It's my last night for now, until we get to the final, obviously, in Qatar. We've had a few little squabbles along the way, but tonight, united in celebration of two

good victories. This is coming together of two great nations, two great soccering nations that have come together in victory and moving on to bigger and better things. And who knows? Maybe in the future we will meet again. How you doing, man? Good to meet you. I mean, I'm seeing evidence of a special relationship.

There's two Alex is here, really, in a way. outnumbered. A lot of people saying it's the best World Cup they've been to. What do you feel? I love it. I mean, there's this there's this brigadoonish type of experience that we have here, this magic that is here. Everybody's obviously in the same place. There's no traveling. I think it's been wonderful. I mean, discovering the land, discovering the people, well, the people have been wonderful here. We've had some great soccer on. Do you know what I've had, I was going to ask you, Alex. I've had probably a dozen now local Qatari people who've come up to me. Actually, most wanted to talk about the Ronaldo interview, which they've watched.

and have a chat, but then all offering me the chance to go back and to their homes and have a meal. They all want to give me my... This is it. This is the unique nature of this World Cup. I've never had that anywhere. We had people, we had Qatari families outside of stadiums, putting on a whole spread for free for fans who were going to try local Qatari food whilst walking into the games, probably that second or third game of the day. I mean, it's a one guy, I said to him, look, it's very kind, but unfortunately I haven't got time

I'm going back and he said, okay, no problem. Love it to me. Went off. I went to pay my bill in the restaurant. an hour later, he'd paid it. But that is my experience of local Qatari people. Very thrilled to have people here. That's the Pizmorgan affecting. Have you any offers of meals? Nobody's paid my bill.

Has your reputation gone before you? No, they've been wonderful, wonderful food, wonderful, just hospitality. And to your point, we are guests here. We are guests in this incredible country with this incredible history. And they want to make sure that we have a good time and obviously take the message back to

everybody. So far's incredible. Do, team, US have to play better than you just sang? Oh my God. To make the final stage. Well, I would hope so. I would hope that they play the way. How far can they go, do you think? Well, we got the Dutch next.

Yeah. Come on. A problem. Dutch. I think you've been taking some stuff in Holland, don't you worry. You've been on the old Amsterdam trail. You think you're going to beat the Dutch.

Oh, my God. You're leaving now? You're out of here? I'm going tomorrow morning, but I may come back if England get to the final. If? Well, so when? When? You should come back and watch the U.S.

I wish I'll miss you. I'm not sure I go that far, but I've liked our bonding this week. It's been one. Thank you very much for coming on the show. Thank you. Alex, great to see you. We've had some fun too. That's it from me.

I'll be back at usual time in London tomorrow night, live at 80 o'clock. Whatever you're up to, keep it uncensored. That's me saying good night from Doha and Qatar. It's been a fantastic few days.