October 28, 2025 • 30 mins
What does it take to build champions without breaking people?
Coach Malek Ben-Musa shares a leadership philosophy forged through immigration, adversity, and decades on the field from Europe to Austin and into the world of MLS NEXT.
What you will learn:
- Why gratitude and faith drive consistent performance
- How to lead with safety, character, and ownership under pressure
- The real meaning of passion: disciplined persistence through the tough moments
Key takeaways:
- Leadership starts with belief, not control
- Coaching is about shaping people, not just players
- Cultural intelligence unlocks potential that others overlook
Listen now to Coach Malek Ben-Musa's powerful take on leadership, growth, and purpose.
Watch on YouTube or subscribe to YoggNation’s: Spirit of Gratitude podcast for more stories that redefine what winning means.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Yog Nation, the Spread of Gratitude
Podcast on the OneTech platform.
Hello, friends.
My name is Yogesh Patel, andthis podcast explores the themes
of bullying, self-awareness, andthe power of our inner spirit,
including the silent battles weall face.
Join me every week as I invitehigh-profile guests as we
explore how adversity shapes us,how gratitude lifts us, and how
(00:24):
we can all uncover the innerstrength that we all have within
ourselves.
Join the conversation.
I appreciate you listening in.
SPEAKER_01 (00:41):
Malik Ben Musa is an internationally recognized
soccer player, having played inEurope and is a nationally
licensed professional soccercoach with over 35 years of
experience from youth to collegeto the professional ranks.
He's won championships at thecollegiate level and is now
owner and co-founder of AustinSoul FC.
Today he shares his lifeexperiences being a coach and
(01:02):
being a truth seeker, which isgoing to be interesting to
unravel.
And with gratitude, welcome tothe podcast, Malik.
SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
Thank you, Yogi.
Uh, just wanted to say first andforemost, uh just want to thank
God um and you and uh of coursethe Yogi Nation.
Uh just sincere gratitude uh forthe time and space to be able to
tell my story.
SPEAKER_01 (01:22):
Oh, thank you.
It's an honor for you to behere.
So, first Ted Lasso question: how many times in a given period (01:24):
undefined
do you need to hear the wordbelieve before you start
believing in yourself?
SPEAKER_02 (01:33):
For me, it's probably once now.
Um, I think this is because ofjust a mindset I have after
coaching for a long time.
Um, you know, I believe to meactually means the process.
Um so looking back, even whenthings are bleak, um, you know,
I think if you believe, if youhave a faith-based uh in a
(01:55):
gratitude type of, you know,like one thing about gratitude,
first and foremost, is it's hardto be negative when you're
grateful.
SPEAKER_01 (02:02):
True.
SPEAKER_02 (02:02):
Uh just that mindset.
So if you're really trulygrateful for what you have,
regardless of how things aregoing, it's very hard to be very
negative.
SPEAKER_01 (02:11):
How do you impart that in people that again, I
know it's it's a mindset andbelief, but I'm sure environment
plays a big role in terms of thepeople that give you that belief
in themselves.
SPEAKER_02 (02:24):
I mean, you just have to look.
Uh in Arabic would be sufdahtik.
Look under you.
Look, and that doesn't mean lookunder you, like meaning socially
or socioeconomically, meaninglook at people who are suffering
and countries that don't haveany access to what you have, or
don't have the educationalopportunities, don't have the
nice car I'm driving, whatever.
(02:46):
You know, what you can go on andon and on unless I always talk
um to ones who kind of feel badfor themselves.
I'll take, you know, take theprivilege test.
There's 19 questions, it's verysimple.
You take that test, and youpretty much, regardless of who
you are uh in the United States,you're probably gonna realize
that you're pretty privileged.
SPEAKER_01 (03:07):
So, what is this privilege test?
I'm curious.
SPEAKER_02 (03:09):
It's right online.
You can just look up theprivilege test and you'll come
up with different variations ofit.
Um, I've given it to differentpeople and it's helped them kind
of realize where they're at andkind of get themselves out of
that feeling, hey, woe is me.
Um, because that happens toeverybody.
Um, you know, I'm uh uh I'mcompassionate and you know, feel
(03:30):
for people who are suffering.
Um, because a lot of times it'salso self-inflicted a little bit
too.
Um, and it's the woe is me kind,but the privilege test kind of
helps you understand, hey, Idon't live day to day thinking
about what where I'm gonna getmy next meal, or I have to go
walk five miles to go get go geta um something to drink, like
(03:52):
water, or where I'm gonna getmyself cleaned off.
I guess uh have a roof.
SPEAKER_01 (03:57):
Yeah, I guess what you uh you remind me of any
problem that at least I have,it's kind of a first world
problem.
SPEAKER_02 (04:05):
And that's really kind of a reminder, excuse me,
um regarding that.
But you know, so for me, beliefis you going back to that
question, is this the result ofyour scope of content?
Like you don't know if you havea a belief in a greater power
above you, your creator, God, uhAllah for me, um, that you know
(04:30):
it's it's never out of hisreach, out of God's reach, every
what you the plan is for you.
Um, and going back to Ted Lasso,um so playing I you know coats
have felt like same as anotherthat that you know soccer, the
lessons I've learned in soccerhave helped me in life.
So that whole premise from theactor Christo Fernandez, Donnie,
(04:52):
you know, soccer is life.
Yes, that is really kind of likehow I've never really turned it.
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
Actually, he says football is life.
SPEAKER_02 (05:01):
Football is life, soccer is life.
Same idea.
SPEAKER_01 (05:04):
I know, yeah, yeah.
Just having fun.
SPEAKER_02 (05:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
So, yeah, so uh in my travelsand around the world, you know,
that that last statement thatPep Guardiola said to Ted Lasso
in that final episode reallykind of emphasizes it's about
people uh and believing inpeople and giving them an
opportunity, and um, and it'sbeing reaffirmed over and over
(05:27):
and over again, regardless ifI'm in Spain.
Like last year I was in Spainfor a wedding at a professional
coach who's a friend of mine,and the same summer I was in
Brazil and Sao Paulo at anotherwedding for one of my good
coaching friends.
Um and um and and there wasn'tany difference.
It was it was always aboutpeople.
How can we help develop theperson?
And from that, you will getastonishing results on the
(05:51):
field.
SPEAKER_01 (05:51):
Well, given the nature of competitive sports,
especially in soccer slashfootball, you know, as someone
who's been on both a champ who'sbeen a both a championship
player and a championship coachat such a young age, Malik, how
did you keep your ego in checkand build that self-awareness
needed to lead others?
I I could imagine it getscomplicated.
SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
Uh as a young player, definitely had an ego.
Probably was very uh honestly, Iwas I was not a very nice person
at times.
I was pretty angry.
Um, probably this typical MiddleEastern young man angry about um
just angry at the world.
Um just because of the thingsthat had happened up to that.
(06:34):
Um, you know, growing up outsideof Houston, I was in a in a
culture of where there wasn't alot of people like me.
In fact, I was the only personnext to my twin brother out of
1200 students that were brown.
There may have been 20 AfricanAmericans, 20 black students in
the whole in the whole um thewhole school.
(06:55):
Um and at that time we had justleft maybe five to less than a
decade before that, um, leftLibya as a kindergartner, first
grader, because my dad hadrecently, a couple years prior,
been jailed uh for 40 days uhand put into a prison system
with eight to ten of his friendswho were all the greatest minds
(07:18):
coming out of school at thattime.
Uh some of those guys who justretired were from the UN
Security Council.
One of them helped form the IBMchip.
Wow, so these were educated menat high levels that Qaddafi,
dictator at the time, was tryingto press into serving him.
So they said no.
Of course, they were jailed.
Nobody knew who they were.
And uh, you gotta understandtoo, uh, my grandfather was a
(07:42):
diplomat.
He, you know, we have picturesof him with the Roosevelts and
the Vatican and the King ofBelgium.
Uh, so he didn't even know wherehe was.
So that kind of tells you howhow close-knit that that became
right away and how well he tookover.
Uh my grandmother was also thefirst woman to um to drive in
Libya, my first my first womanto uh own her own business in
(08:04):
Libya.
So we had a family offorward-thinking progressive
about the education.
I have a aunt who speaks ninelanguages and has like three
doctors' degrees.
She's uh I I kneel down to herbecause she's she's only like
five, four foot eleven, fivefoot one.
But she's an amazing, just anamazing person, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (08:24):
Like she's uh that's that's a lot of sharp tools in
the shed.
SPEAKER_02 (08:28):
Exactly.
So my ego was really about justfear.
That's the reason why.
Because I was in a in a placethat was not that didn't feel
home.
I still was trying to adapt.
I was a chameleon.
Basically, you know, I had tochange my skin according to what
group I was in that in that timeperiod.
(08:48):
And as a first generationAmerican, specifically a proud
Texan, in fact, a very proudLibyan Texan.
Um my ego was born from fear andthat escaping a dictator, and
you know, once released, youknow, my dad served his time
because basically he was tryingto press him to serve for the
government.
So my dad did two years workingin the oil fields, and then
(09:11):
after things kind of died down,he said, Yeah, I'm going on a
business trip to Houston, and wenever returned.
So it was one of those stories.
SPEAKER_01 (09:17):
But it's interesting.
I mean, going back, youmentioned growing up growing up
as a chameleon, and I think thatthat's a relatable story today,
again, for those that areperhaps down under luck or
trying to not be their authenticself, right?
I think that's what a lot ofthis podcast aims to do is to
provide this really authenticstorytelling.
(09:39):
And oh my gosh, you've certainlyachieved that.
But in terms of the wisdom andperspective you have towards a
person that may not be exactlyin your shoes, but has that fear
of whatever is causing them notto be the best version of
themselves.
So curious, Malik, uh, whatwould you say to that
(09:59):
individual?
SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
Uh, first and foremost, the resources we have
now and and and just just inyour hand as you pull up your
phone is amazing uh in thatrespect.
That you can connect with thosewho look and feel and are like
you much easier.
I uh example, and it took me along time.
Okay, I'm I'm an example ofsomebody who who went from one
(10:24):
tribe to another trying tofigure out who I was.
Uh recently, or like not recent,but like maybe five, six years
ago, I had an opportunity tojoin a civic organization called
100 Black Men of Austin.
And there's ones all over almostevery major city uh in 100 black
men of America as well.
Um and I found my tribe.
I found people who um were likeme in a sense of trying to do
(10:49):
the right thing for ourcommunity and help bring brown
and black people who have, youknow, through educational, not
through excuses, not through,you know, we're not a political
organization, but we arepolicy-oriented and trying to
make sure that the right thingsare done for everybody,
including our brown and blackcommunity.
SPEAKER_01 (11:09):
I think you're so right.
The resources are out there.
It just takes that initial push,that inertia to get started,
whether that comes from yourselfor a person who deeply cares
about the struggles orchallenges you're going through
to help to give them guidanceand say, hey, check this out.
That might be helpful.
SPEAKER_02 (11:29):
And I think that Yeah, I always feel like when
you give back to your community,whichever form that is, um
you'll be surprised what you getin return.
SPEAKER_01 (11:40):
But kind of going back to again the serving, I
think you uh are best at usingsoccer as a tool to serve
others.
And how do you measure successin that mission?
SPEAKER_02 (11:53):
Well, after 35 years of coaching, I have now players
and people coming back to mewith their own kids that I've
coached at ages 10, 11, and 12asking me to coach their kids.
So that gives me one aspectsaying I didn't screw them up.
And that's something that youhave to understand as a for me.
(12:16):
I know it's easier to screw upsomebody when you're trying to
develop them as a person as muchas you're trying to help them.
So I keep that in mind.
I have players who played at thehighest levels that I've
coached.
In fact, one has an academyprogram right here in town that
I coached when he was 14, and wewere pretty hard on him when he
was 14.
Not because we because of hispotential and because of what he
(12:39):
wanted.
And that's the other thing, too.
Uh, what do they want?
Uh how um how much do you give?
I always tell my players now,and I've said this for almost 20
years now.
Uh I will give as much as yougive me.
So if you want a lot, if youwant that big time, and you
can't just talk about it becausepeople talk all the time.
(13:00):
But you have to show me, uh,like Missouri, the show me
state.
Um, you have to really likereally show me that you want to
that next level.
Do you want to play high schoolor do you want to play college?
Or do you want to do you wantthis or that?
We're gonna do whatever we canto give you the tools and skills
and uh the mental toughness andresilience necessary to make it.
(13:21):
But for the for the most part,um there's so many talent people
out there never make it, andit's not because they're they're
not talented enough, it'sbecause they don't have the
heart or the willingness tosuffer.
My tagline for Austin.
SPEAKER_01 (13:36):
Tell me more, willingness to suffer.
That's huge.
SPEAKER_02 (13:39):
Okay, it's called soccer.
It's soccer, passion, andpassion is a word that people
emphasi think about like youknow, that great passion for
something, but it also meanssuffering.
You have to be able to sufferthrough the soccer part
sometimes to get to where youwant to be.
And then the third tagline forus at Austin Sol FC is called
(14:02):
cultural intelligence and beingunderstanding of where they're
coming from and where they wantto get to.
Not everybody wants is going tobe the same way.
Just because you're a soccerplayer, if you're a white soccer
player from a suburb, it'sdifferent.
And that's just the truth.
Uh you will you might have,especially here where I live in
Austin, um, where we have lotsof resources and we have this
(14:24):
very influential, affluent uhsuburbs, like many cities.
Um, so if you're in that area,you might not need the same as
somebody who comes from anotherarea where you know he has to
work till you know six o'clockin the afternoon and then go
train and then go back and helphis dad because he's working the
tile business, um, regardless ofcolor.
SPEAKER_01 (14:47):
But kind of going back to the nature of soccer, I
mean, it is, I mean, I know Iknow that you develop uh and
mold these these young men andwomen, uh, but soccer could be
very can be a very cutthroatenvironment, especially for kids
chasing big dreams, what youjust mentioned.
But have you seen bullying ortoxic competition creep into the
(15:09):
sport?
And how do you step in as acoach to protect the player's
confidence and joy?
SPEAKER_02 (15:14):
Um, before I answer that, I just want to give two
examples of the soccer's a toolsurvivors and how I measure it.
One other person is WinstonPoole, is another player of mine
who I coached at 12 that nobodywanted, and now just won a state
championship as a coach.
Uh, and is coach of the year inAustin, um, has won so many
(15:35):
different awards.
And then another player is whenI coach at the collegiate level
named Diego Flores, who was thefirst graduate in his family.
To me, that was super important.
Yeah.
Uh, not only did he the first,he when I spoke to him recently
after not seeing him for like 20years, he told me the time on
the field changed his life.
It allowed him to be able togrow.
(15:57):
And now he's at a very big firm,uh, you know, and a very making
amazing, he's just a reallyhigh-level executive.
Uh, and he came from nowhere.
Um, so it's just opening doorsand giving people opportunity, I
think, is really the key.
Um, and you you and if you guidethem the right way, I think
(16:18):
you'll be surprised what theycan do.
So, and then the cutthroatenvironment, hmm, that is my
biggest concern.
SPEAKER_01 (16:25):
Biggest what I'm sorry?
SPEAKER_02 (16:26):
My biggest concern as a coach.
When I walk on the field, mynumber one priority is the
safety of my players.
Period.
There's nothing else moreimportant to me.
So that means everything fromfield conditions, when I walk
the field, if I've never beenthere and I don't know the
field, uh, we'll walk right off.
I don't care about winning orlosing.
(16:47):
If the storms are reallyprevalent in central Texas, just
like Florida, just like otherparts in the south, if there's
lightning in the area, back inthe day before we had lightning
meters and a phone, I would walkoff the field if I saw even
thunder or lightning in the inthe distance, and people are
like, why?
It's not even close.
I'm like, it doesn't matter, I'mgetting off the field.
(17:08):
If you can see it, you can gethit by it.
And that's the truth.
And that's the science.
Um, and it happened actuallywhen my career when we were
first day of soccer for my my uhdaughter, Yara, as a
nine-10-year-old, we're going upto the field and lightning hit a
fence that rebounded and hit achild, and there was clear
(17:30):
skies.
It was uh a lightning storm orthunderstorm about 10 miles
away.
Uh, and that child has neverbeen the same.
Oh my goodness.
So that's how that's howimportant it is.
Um be safe.
So that's just one, but creatinglike the in regards to toxic
environments, it's not toleratedfor me.
Um, I I don't care for I I've Iwas called Mr.
(17:54):
Fixit for a long time because ifthere was a problem with a team
that they couldn't figure outwhy, uh, they would give it to
me as I was going through thecoaching ranks and becoming a
director and coaching at thelevel.
And a lot of times I would justgo in with an open mind, see
what was going on, and a lot oftimes it was one or two players
(18:14):
that were causing it.
And if you got the players off,everything became so much
better.
And even though they wereprobably the best players, and
that was usually the case,unfortunately, um, I didn't care
because that was not theimportant the important part was
the team, and no one player orone person can should be,
(18:34):
including the coach, should bethat important to the team that
that that cannot be.
SPEAKER_01 (18:40):
What about the opposing team though?
What if they have perhaps anarrogant coach or a snot-nosed
kid who wants to malicious harm?
SPEAKER_02 (18:52):
I would make it clear to the coach and give them
a chance to help them understandwhat's going on on the field.
And in in not in the back in theday when I was young, probably
not in a really correct way, butnow I would do it privately,
probably, and just let them knowwhat's going on and see what
happens.
But in the end, if we had toplay that team again, I would
make it clear that we're notgoing to tolerate that.
(19:15):
Uh, and we will walk off thefield.
Again, this is not about wins orlosses.
This is about player safety andalso having an environment that
everybody can be, can grow anddevelop from.
And you can't grow and developfrom a toxic environment or
environment that's negative.
SPEAKER_01 (19:31):
So that's so true.
I mean, that that's just thelife in general, right?
I mean, yes, it's uh you growwhen you are at sometimes at
your lowest point, but thatdoesn't mean that you got there
because of the bullying andpeople putting you down.
SPEAKER_02 (19:45):
And and that's kind of where I've become a little
bit better with my ego.
Um, you know, I I I workconsistently as hard as I can to
push the ego down.
Uh, I hope now it's as small aspossible.
But obviously, as a coach, whenyou're trying to compete and
you're trying to actually win agame, which is part of what
we're trying to do, I'm not I'mnot coaching a recreational team
(20:07):
now.
I'm coaching an MLS next U16team.
So all of these players on thisteam, all of them across the
board, every one of them, whowants to be pro, every one of
them raises their hand.
So if all of them want to be,and then there's no parents
around.
So there's nobody pushing them.
They all want this, they're alldoing everything they can to do
the right thing.
SPEAKER_01 (20:26):
Um, hard for you because of the different
dimensions and qualities thateach individual player has and
how to get the best out of them.
I I it's like playingfour-dimensional chess.
SPEAKER_02 (20:41):
Pretty much, yeah.
You you have the team goals, youhave the team periodization, but
you also have the individualgoals and individual
periodization.
How is that gonna also impacttheir game model, which is
basically how we want to play,and how we can help them become
the best versions of themselves,all of the but they're also
competing against one another,too, to a certain degree.
Yes, they are.
They're competing against oneeach other, one another, they're
(21:02):
competing against the otherteam, they're competing for you
know uh coaches' time andcoaches' wisdom uh at the same
time.
So all of that plays a part.
So how do you manage all that?
You how you balance it accordingto, again, who's giving what?
Who's giving, you know, thethree things I tell my players
(21:23):
that they need to do, and thisis what they can control.
I've done this with a teamrecently, like six or seven
years ago, where I didn't talkabout winning.
I just talked about these threethings.
One, effort individually, uh,meaning I want everything.
I want physical, mental,emotional, spiritual, I want it
(21:43):
all.
I want 100%.
Okay, every time you step on afield for me.
Two, a growth mindset, not afalse growth mindset, an actual
true growth mindset.
We want to see you be able toget the mistake, take it, accept
it, and move forward and see ifwe can fix it.
Okay.
And and not I mean fix itbecause it's not gonna happen
again, but fix it because youunderstand what the problem was
(22:05):
and you're trying to make itbetter.
And then third, are you doingthe right thing?
Regardless of what happens on afield, are you doing the right
thing?
That means if I'm walking by andI see a piece of trash on the
sideline, regardless if it's myfield that we're playing on, our
home field or away field ortraining or whatever it is, are
you doing the right thing andpicking it up and throwing away
(22:27):
in the trash?
As simple as that.
Those three things you cancontrol.
Nothing else is controllable ona field.
Not the environment, not theother team, not the referee, not
the other players, not yourteammates.
All you have control over isyourself.
So once you have that, then youcan possibly be able to like
(22:47):
really go places, I think.
SPEAKER_01 (22:50):
So and as you were mentioning this, Malik, I was
thinking about where humilitymight factor in, but it looks
like it would be a subcategoryof number three of doing the
right thing.
SPEAKER_02 (23:00):
Just do the right thing, just stop, stop and think
about you know how you can helpwhen something looks wrong, do
the right thing.
If somebody's not acting right,do the right thing and let them
know.
We're all accountable forourselves, but also accountable
for each other on the team.
So we talk about this.
And for that year with thatteam, I experimented on that was
(23:23):
during the time I was getting mymaster's degree in soccer
coaching.
We won every game, and I neverspoke about winning once.
SPEAKER_01 (23:30):
Really?
unknown (23:32):
Huh?
SPEAKER_01 (23:33):
You were the Ted Lasso then.
SPEAKER_02 (23:35):
I didn't I didn't even talk about tactics, I
didn't even mention like youneed to do this or you need to
do that.
And once in a while I would putthem in the right spot just to
help them out and guide them.
But most of the time, those arethe three things I would remind
them.
And when they'd come off thefield, I would say, So what's
what's going on?
They're like, our effort sucks,coach.
We need to do this, this, andthis.
(23:55):
They took ownership, so that'sreally key too.
Them taking ownership, thembelieving that they understand
the game and they can do it.
So that's the process ofbelieve.
SPEAKER_01 (24:08):
And again, for that person that's listening in the
quiet corner corner of the room,as they say, right?
I think what Malik just hasdescribed in terms of his uh
coaching and playing career isthis is exactly the formula of
how you can be uber competitiveyet be humble at the same time,
as opposed to being ubercompetitive and being arrogant.
(24:31):
So, Malik, thank you for sharingyour spirit today and what that
means to hopefully influence uhan individual listening, uh,
whether that's streaming or onsocial media, about the ability
to be inspired, to becomeeducated, to become entertained,
but ultimately learn somethingabout yourself or rediscover
(24:53):
something about yourself.
And so, Malik, I thank you againfor sharing your story, sharing
your insights, sharing yourwisdom in terms of how to be
this good person at the end ofthe day, and what it means to be
that truth seeker.
Um, a couple of fun questions Iwanted to ask uh of you, Malik,
in terms of your playing days uhin Europe, and that is uh, you
(25:15):
know, just kind of pie in thesky questions.
So, who'd give the better peptalk to a bunch of 10-year-old
kids besides yourself?
David Beckham with his charm orDiego Meradona with his fire?
SPEAKER_02 (25:29):
Oh man.
SPEAKER_01 (25:30):
I assume you know both.
SPEAKER_02 (25:31):
Yeah, I know them both really well.
Um, you know, Maradona mighthave it depends on the the
group.
I think if it's a Latino group,it would definitely be Maradona.
If it's a group from Europe, itprobably will be Beckham.
So just depending on where thewhere they are and what they're
wanting to hear and how they'retrying to hear it.
SPEAKER_01 (25:51):
So gotcha.
SPEAKER_02 (25:52):
That's pretty much it.
I don't, I mean, both of themwould have a lot to say.
Maradona would be veryinteresting, but Beckham, of
course, has a great story aswell.
SPEAKER_01 (25:59):
Cool.
And then next question (26:00):
who would you rather arm wrestle?
Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose, is ituh Mourinho?
If I pronounced his namecorrectly.
SPEAKER_02 (26:15):
I don't know.
I I have utmost respect for bothof them, uh, but a little bit
more for Sir Alex.
Um, he did some astonishingthings in his career.
I think up at up until Pep, hewas probably considered maybe
the greatest coach ever.
Um, and now we have Pep who'sbroken all these kind of records
(26:36):
and stuff and continues to doso.
But I would say probably Marino,I'd probably go against him just
because Is that because youthink he'd win?
Probably because he's also moremy size.
SPEAKER_01 (26:48):
Cool.
And then final question (26:49):
who would be your ideal for some in
golf if you had to pick uh allof the legendary soccer players
that you know?
SPEAKER_02 (26:58):
Oh my gosh.
If they all could play golfreally well.
Or if they're hacks, yeah.
Pele would be the first.
For me, he's the greatest ever.
Um, Eusebio, which at the timewas considered the second best
player.
Wait, who's this person?
Uh he's from Portugal.
He was called the Black Panther.
Um, probably one of the greatestin their air.
Um Portuguese player, wellknown.
(27:20):
Uh Cruyff, definitely, becauseof his knowledge, and basically
everything we see today is adevelopmental piece of his
knowledge that he brought toBarcelona and through the total
game in the Netherlands, whichused to be called Holland, but
now they call it Netherlands.
I did like that term better.
Um, and then the final one.
(27:43):
Hmm.
Messi?
No, not nobody modern, probably.
It'd probably be um Socratesfrom from Brazil, who was not
only the captain of theBrazilian soccer team in the
80s, but also a doctor.
SPEAKER_01 (27:59):
Really?
SPEAKER_02 (28:00):
I didn't know that.
Amazing, amazing man.
So, and then phenomenal playertoo.
But I would be very curious topick up, you know, pick his
brain as we've golfed for 18holes.
SPEAKER_01 (28:10):
That's amazing.
Well, I think that's a great uhway to end the segment, uh,
Malik, in terms of thephilosophy, right, from the OG
Socrates to this Socrates thatyou know, and then finally
wrapping up with your incrediblestory and journey.
So, Malik, before we leave, isthere anything that you want to
(28:32):
share to the citizens of YogNation um regarding your
philosophy or anything that thatI didn't that I missed that you
wanted to share?
SPEAKER_02 (28:43):
I think the one thing is is the describing
myself as the truth seeker andunderstanding more about that.
Um I would say to be curious.
If you want to become a betterperson, curiosity is a big part
of it.
For my faith-based uh practiceand many others, you know,
(29:03):
seeking knowledge and theseeking, and almost all of them
strongly encourage it.
Attaining, seeking knowledge,seeking the truth.
And that's what that means tome.
Seeking the truth and being thetruth seeker is trying to figure
out what's really true and whatwhat kind of knowledge I can
attain.
Um, and if you ever think of me,think of me as that truth seeker
(29:27):
uh riding in an ocean of sand,because I'm from Libya, the
Sahara Desert encompasses all ofit.
For those who don't know, Libyais uh three times the size of
Texas with only seven millionpeople.
Um, so it's very, very vast, andit's an ocean of sand.
So think of me there.
And um, you know, just rememberthat you know that's that is
(29:50):
really the key to being a betterversion.
It's just seeking the truth andseeking and being curious and
and and wanting to learn aboutothers.
That all Also helps you becomeand stay humble.
SPEAKER_01 (30:03):
Well stated.
Thank you, Malik, for your time.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much, Yogi.
Absolutely.
God bless.
God bless to you.
Welcome to the Yog Nation, the Spread of Gratitude
Podcast on the OneTech platform.
Hello, friends.
My name is Yogesh Patel, andthis podcast explores the themes
of bullying, self-awareness, andthe power of our inner spirit,
including the silent battles weall face.
Join me every week as I invitehigh-profile guests as we
explore how adversity shapes us,how gratitude lifts us, and how
(00:24):
we can all uncover the innerstrength that we all have within
ourselves.
Join the conversation.
I appreciate you listening in.
SPEAKER_01 (00:41):
Malik Ben Musa is an internationally recognized
soccer player, having played inEurope and is a nationally
licensed professional soccercoach with over 35 years of
experience from youth to collegeto the professional ranks.
He's won championships at thecollegiate level and is now
owner and co-founder of AustinSoul FC.
Today he shares his lifeexperiences being a coach and
(01:02):
being a truth seeker, which isgoing to be interesting to
unravel.
And with gratitude, welcome tothe podcast, Malik.
SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
Thank you, Yogi.
Uh, just wanted to say first andforemost, uh just want to thank
God um and you and uh of coursethe Yogi Nation.
Uh just sincere gratitude uh forthe time and space to be able to
tell my story.
SPEAKER_01 (01:22):
Oh, thank you.
It's an honor for you to behere.
So, first Ted Lasso question: how many times in a given period (01:24):
undefined
do you need to hear the wordbelieve before you start
believing in yourself?
SPEAKER_02 (01:33):
For me, it's probably once now.
Um, I think this is because ofjust a mindset I have after
coaching for a long time.
Um, you know, I believe to meactually means the process.
Um so looking back, even whenthings are bleak, um, you know,
I think if you believe, if youhave a faith-based uh in a
(01:55):
gratitude type of, you know,like one thing about gratitude,
first and foremost, is it's hardto be negative when you're
grateful.
SPEAKER_01 (02:02):
True.
SPEAKER_02 (02:02):
Uh just that mindset.
So if you're really trulygrateful for what you have,
regardless of how things aregoing, it's very hard to be very
negative.
SPEAKER_01 (02:11):
How do you impart that in people that again, I
know it's it's a mindset andbelief, but I'm sure environment
plays a big role in terms of thepeople that give you that belief
in themselves.
SPEAKER_02 (02:24):
I mean, you just have to look.
Uh in Arabic would be sufdahtik.
Look under you.
Look, and that doesn't mean lookunder you, like meaning socially
or socioeconomically, meaninglook at people who are suffering
and countries that don't haveany access to what you have, or
don't have the educationalopportunities, don't have the
nice car I'm driving, whatever.
(02:46):
You know, what you can go on andon and on unless I always talk
um to ones who kind of feel badfor themselves.
I'll take, you know, take theprivilege test.
There's 19 questions, it's verysimple.
You take that test, and youpretty much, regardless of who
you are uh in the United States,you're probably gonna realize
that you're pretty privileged.
SPEAKER_01 (03:07):
So, what is this privilege test?
I'm curious.
SPEAKER_02 (03:09):
It's right online.
You can just look up theprivilege test and you'll come
up with different variations ofit.
Um, I've given it to differentpeople and it's helped them kind
of realize where they're at andkind of get themselves out of
that feeling, hey, woe is me.
Um, because that happens toeverybody.
Um, you know, I'm uh uh I'mcompassionate and you know, feel
(03:30):
for people who are suffering.
Um, because a lot of times it'salso self-inflicted a little bit
too.
Um, and it's the woe is me kind,but the privilege test kind of
helps you understand, hey, Idon't live day to day thinking
about what where I'm gonna getmy next meal, or I have to go
walk five miles to go get go geta um something to drink, like
(03:52):
water, or where I'm gonna getmyself cleaned off.
I guess uh have a roof.
SPEAKER_01 (03:57):
Yeah, I guess what you uh you remind me of any
problem that at least I have,it's kind of a first world
problem.
SPEAKER_02 (04:05):
And that's really kind of a reminder, excuse me,
um regarding that.
But you know, so for me, beliefis you going back to that
question, is this the result ofyour scope of content?
Like you don't know if you havea a belief in a greater power
above you, your creator, God, uhAllah for me, um, that you know
(04:30):
it's it's never out of hisreach, out of God's reach, every
what you the plan is for you.
Um, and going back to Ted Lasso,um so playing I you know coats
have felt like same as anotherthat that you know soccer, the
lessons I've learned in soccerhave helped me in life.
So that whole premise from theactor Christo Fernandez, Donnie,
(04:52):
you know, soccer is life.
Yes, that is really kind of likehow I've never really turned it.
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
Actually, he says football is life.
SPEAKER_02 (05:01):
Football is life, soccer is life.
Same idea.
SPEAKER_01 (05:04):
I know, yeah, yeah.
Just having fun.
SPEAKER_02 (05:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
So, yeah, so uh in my travelsand around the world, you know,
that that last statement thatPep Guardiola said to Ted Lasso
in that final episode reallykind of emphasizes it's about
people uh and believing inpeople and giving them an
opportunity, and um, and it'sbeing reaffirmed over and over
(05:27):
and over again, regardless ifI'm in Spain.
Like last year I was in Spainfor a wedding at a professional
coach who's a friend of mine,and the same summer I was in
Brazil and Sao Paulo at anotherwedding for one of my good
coaching friends.
Um and um and and there wasn'tany difference.
It was it was always aboutpeople.
How can we help develop theperson?
And from that, you will getastonishing results on the
(05:51):
field.
SPEAKER_01 (05:51):
Well, given the nature of competitive sports,
especially in soccer slashfootball, you know, as someone
who's been on both a champ who'sbeen a both a championship
player and a championship coachat such a young age, Malik, how
did you keep your ego in checkand build that self-awareness
needed to lead others?
I I could imagine it getscomplicated.
SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
Uh as a young player, definitely had an ego.
Probably was very uh honestly, Iwas I was not a very nice person
at times.
I was pretty angry.
Um, probably this typical MiddleEastern young man angry about um
just angry at the world.
Um just because of the thingsthat had happened up to that.
(06:34):
Um, you know, growing up outsideof Houston, I was in a in a
culture of where there wasn't alot of people like me.
In fact, I was the only personnext to my twin brother out of
1200 students that were brown.
There may have been 20 AfricanAmericans, 20 black students in
the whole in the whole um thewhole school.
(06:55):
Um and at that time we had justleft maybe five to less than a
decade before that, um, leftLibya as a kindergartner, first
grader, because my dad hadrecently, a couple years prior,
been jailed uh for 40 days uhand put into a prison system
with eight to ten of his friendswho were all the greatest minds
(07:18):
coming out of school at thattime.
Uh some of those guys who justretired were from the UN
Security Council.
One of them helped form the IBMchip.
Wow, so these were educated menat high levels that Qaddafi,
dictator at the time, was tryingto press into serving him.
So they said no.
Of course, they were jailed.
Nobody knew who they were.
And uh, you gotta understandtoo, uh, my grandfather was a
(07:42):
diplomat.
He, you know, we have picturesof him with the Roosevelts and
the Vatican and the King ofBelgium.
Uh, so he didn't even know wherehe was.
So that kind of tells you howhow close-knit that that became
right away and how well he tookover.
Uh my grandmother was also thefirst woman to um to drive in
Libya, my first my first womanto uh own her own business in
(08:04):
Libya.
So we had a family offorward-thinking progressive
about the education.
I have a aunt who speaks ninelanguages and has like three
doctors' degrees.
She's uh I I kneel down to herbecause she's she's only like
five, four foot eleven, fivefoot one.
But she's an amazing, just anamazing person, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (08:24):
Like she's uh that's that's a lot of sharp tools in
the shed.
SPEAKER_02 (08:28):
Exactly.
So my ego was really about justfear.
That's the reason why.
Because I was in a in a placethat was not that didn't feel
home.
I still was trying to adapt.
I was a chameleon.
Basically, you know, I had tochange my skin according to what
group I was in that in that timeperiod.
(08:48):
And as a first generationAmerican, specifically a proud
Texan, in fact, a very proudLibyan Texan.
Um my ego was born from fear andthat escaping a dictator, and
you know, once released, youknow, my dad served his time
because basically he was tryingto press him to serve for the
government.
So my dad did two years workingin the oil fields, and then
(09:11):
after things kind of died down,he said, Yeah, I'm going on a
business trip to Houston, and wenever returned.
So it was one of those stories.
SPEAKER_01 (09:17):
But it's interesting.
I mean, going back, youmentioned growing up growing up
as a chameleon, and I think thatthat's a relatable story today,
again, for those that areperhaps down under luck or
trying to not be their authenticself, right?
I think that's what a lot ofthis podcast aims to do is to
provide this really authenticstorytelling.
(09:39):
And oh my gosh, you've certainlyachieved that.
But in terms of the wisdom andperspective you have towards a
person that may not be exactlyin your shoes, but has that fear
of whatever is causing them notto be the best version of
themselves.
So curious, Malik, uh, whatwould you say to that
(09:59):
individual?
SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
Uh, first and foremost, the resources we have
now and and and just just inyour hand as you pull up your
phone is amazing uh in thatrespect.
That you can connect with thosewho look and feel and are like
you much easier.
I uh example, and it took me along time.
Okay, I'm I'm an example ofsomebody who who went from one
(10:24):
tribe to another trying tofigure out who I was.
Uh recently, or like not recent,but like maybe five, six years
ago, I had an opportunity tojoin a civic organization called
100 Black Men of Austin.
And there's ones all over almostevery major city uh in 100 black
men of America as well.
Um and I found my tribe.
I found people who um were likeme in a sense of trying to do
(10:49):
the right thing for ourcommunity and help bring brown
and black people who have, youknow, through educational, not
through excuses, not through,you know, we're not a political
organization, but we arepolicy-oriented and trying to
make sure that the right thingsare done for everybody,
including our brown and blackcommunity.
SPEAKER_01 (11:09):
I think you're so right.
The resources are out there.
It just takes that initial push,that inertia to get started,
whether that comes from yourselfor a person who deeply cares
about the struggles orchallenges you're going through
to help to give them guidanceand say, hey, check this out.
That might be helpful.
SPEAKER_02 (11:29):
And I think that Yeah, I always feel like when
you give back to your community,whichever form that is, um
you'll be surprised what you getin return.
SPEAKER_01 (11:40):
But kind of going back to again the serving, I
think you uh are best at usingsoccer as a tool to serve
others.
And how do you measure successin that mission?
SPEAKER_02 (11:53):
Well, after 35 years of coaching, I have now players
and people coming back to mewith their own kids that I've
coached at ages 10, 11, and 12asking me to coach their kids.
So that gives me one aspectsaying I didn't screw them up.
And that's something that youhave to understand as a for me.
(12:16):
I know it's easier to screw upsomebody when you're trying to
develop them as a person as muchas you're trying to help them.
So I keep that in mind.
I have players who played at thehighest levels that I've
coached.
In fact, one has an academyprogram right here in town that
I coached when he was 14, and wewere pretty hard on him when he
was 14.
Not because we because of hispotential and because of what he
(12:39):
wanted.
And that's the other thing, too.
Uh, what do they want?
Uh how um how much do you give?
I always tell my players now,and I've said this for almost 20
years now.
Uh I will give as much as yougive me.
So if you want a lot, if youwant that big time, and you
can't just talk about it becausepeople talk all the time.
(13:00):
But you have to show me, uh,like Missouri, the show me
state.
Um, you have to really likereally show me that you want to
that next level.
Do you want to play high schoolor do you want to play college?
Or do you want to do you wantthis or that?
We're gonna do whatever we canto give you the tools and skills
and uh the mental toughness andresilience necessary to make it.
(13:21):
But for the for the most part,um there's so many talent people
out there never make it, andit's not because they're they're
not talented enough, it'sbecause they don't have the
heart or the willingness tosuffer.
My tagline for Austin.
SPEAKER_01 (13:36):
Tell me more, willingness to suffer.
That's huge.
SPEAKER_02 (13:39):
Okay, it's called soccer.
It's soccer, passion, andpassion is a word that people
emphasi think about like youknow, that great passion for
something, but it also meanssuffering.
You have to be able to sufferthrough the soccer part
sometimes to get to where youwant to be.
And then the third tagline forus at Austin Sol FC is called
(14:02):
cultural intelligence and beingunderstanding of where they're
coming from and where they wantto get to.
Not everybody wants is going tobe the same way.
Just because you're a soccerplayer, if you're a white soccer
player from a suburb, it'sdifferent.
And that's just the truth.
Uh you will you might have,especially here where I live in
Austin, um, where we have lotsof resources and we have this
(14:24):
very influential, affluent uhsuburbs, like many cities.
Um, so if you're in that area,you might not need the same as
somebody who comes from anotherarea where you know he has to
work till you know six o'clockin the afternoon and then go
train and then go back and helphis dad because he's working the
tile business, um, regardless ofcolor.
SPEAKER_01 (14:47):
But kind of going back to the nature of soccer, I
mean, it is, I mean, I know Iknow that you develop uh and
mold these these young men andwomen, uh, but soccer could be
very can be a very cutthroatenvironment, especially for kids
chasing big dreams, what youjust mentioned.
But have you seen bullying ortoxic competition creep into the
(15:09):
sport?
And how do you step in as acoach to protect the player's
confidence and joy?
SPEAKER_02 (15:14):
Um, before I answer that, I just want to give two
examples of the soccer's a toolsurvivors and how I measure it.
One other person is WinstonPoole, is another player of mine
who I coached at 12 that nobodywanted, and now just won a state
championship as a coach.
Uh, and is coach of the year inAustin, um, has won so many
(15:35):
different awards.
And then another player is whenI coach at the collegiate level
named Diego Flores, who was thefirst graduate in his family.
To me, that was super important.
Yeah.
Uh, not only did he the first,he when I spoke to him recently
after not seeing him for like 20years, he told me the time on
the field changed his life.
It allowed him to be able togrow.
(15:57):
And now he's at a very big firm,uh, you know, and a very making
amazing, he's just a reallyhigh-level executive.
Uh, and he came from nowhere.
Um, so it's just opening doorsand giving people opportunity, I
think, is really the key.
Um, and you you and if you guidethem the right way, I think
(16:18):
you'll be surprised what theycan do.
So, and then the cutthroatenvironment, hmm, that is my
biggest concern.
SPEAKER_01 (16:25):
Biggest what I'm sorry?
SPEAKER_02 (16:26):
My biggest concern as a coach.
When I walk on the field, mynumber one priority is the
safety of my players.
Period.
There's nothing else moreimportant to me.
So that means everything fromfield conditions, when I walk
the field, if I've never beenthere and I don't know the
field, uh, we'll walk right off.
I don't care about winning orlosing.
(16:47):
If the storms are reallyprevalent in central Texas, just
like Florida, just like otherparts in the south, if there's
lightning in the area, back inthe day before we had lightning
meters and a phone, I would walkoff the field if I saw even
thunder or lightning in the inthe distance, and people are
like, why?
It's not even close.
I'm like, it doesn't matter, I'mgetting off the field.
(17:08):
If you can see it, you can gethit by it.
And that's the truth.
And that's the science.
Um, and it happened actuallywhen my career when we were
first day of soccer for my my uhdaughter, Yara, as a
nine-10-year-old, we're going upto the field and lightning hit a
fence that rebounded and hit achild, and there was clear
(17:30):
skies.
It was uh a lightning storm orthunderstorm about 10 miles
away.
Uh, and that child has neverbeen the same.
Oh my goodness.
So that's how that's howimportant it is.
Um be safe.
So that's just one, but creatinglike the in regards to toxic
environments, it's not toleratedfor me.
Um, I I don't care for I I've Iwas called Mr.
(17:54):
Fixit for a long time because ifthere was a problem with a team
that they couldn't figure outwhy, uh, they would give it to
me as I was going through thecoaching ranks and becoming a
director and coaching at thelevel.
And a lot of times I would justgo in with an open mind, see
what was going on, and a lot oftimes it was one or two players
(18:14):
that were causing it.
And if you got the players off,everything became so much
better.
And even though they wereprobably the best players, and
that was usually the case,unfortunately, um, I didn't care
because that was not theimportant the important part was
the team, and no one player orone person can should be,
(18:34):
including the coach, should bethat important to the team that
that that cannot be.
SPEAKER_01 (18:40):
What about the opposing team though?
What if they have perhaps anarrogant coach or a snot-nosed
kid who wants to malicious harm?
SPEAKER_02 (18:52):
I would make it clear to the coach and give them
a chance to help them understandwhat's going on on the field.
And in in not in the back in theday when I was young, probably
not in a really correct way, butnow I would do it privately,
probably, and just let them knowwhat's going on and see what
happens.
But in the end, if we had toplay that team again, I would
make it clear that we're notgoing to tolerate that.
(19:15):
Uh, and we will walk off thefield.
Again, this is not about wins orlosses.
This is about player safety andalso having an environment that
everybody can be, can grow anddevelop from.
And you can't grow and developfrom a toxic environment or
environment that's negative.
SPEAKER_01 (19:31):
So that's so true.
I mean, that that's just thelife in general, right?
I mean, yes, it's uh you growwhen you are at sometimes at
your lowest point, but thatdoesn't mean that you got there
because of the bullying andpeople putting you down.
SPEAKER_02 (19:45):
And and that's kind of where I've become a little
bit better with my ego.
Um, you know, I I I workconsistently as hard as I can to
push the ego down.
Uh, I hope now it's as small aspossible.
But obviously, as a coach, whenyou're trying to compete and
you're trying to actually win agame, which is part of what
we're trying to do, I'm not I'mnot coaching a recreational team
(20:07):
now.
I'm coaching an MLS next U16team.
So all of these players on thisteam, all of them across the
board, every one of them, whowants to be pro, every one of
them raises their hand.
So if all of them want to be,and then there's no parents
around.
So there's nobody pushing them.
They all want this, they're alldoing everything they can to do
the right thing.
SPEAKER_01 (20:26):
Um, hard for you because of the different
dimensions and qualities thateach individual player has and
how to get the best out of them.
I I it's like playingfour-dimensional chess.
SPEAKER_02 (20:41):
Pretty much, yeah.
You you have the team goals, youhave the team periodization, but
you also have the individualgoals and individual
periodization.
How is that gonna also impacttheir game model, which is
basically how we want to play,and how we can help them become
the best versions of themselves,all of the but they're also
competing against one another,too, to a certain degree.
Yes, they are.
They're competing against oneeach other, one another, they're
(21:02):
competing against the otherteam, they're competing for you
know uh coaches' time andcoaches' wisdom uh at the same
time.
So all of that plays a part.
So how do you manage all that?
You how you balance it accordingto, again, who's giving what?
Who's giving, you know, thethree things I tell my players
(21:23):
that they need to do, and thisis what they can control.
I've done this with a teamrecently, like six or seven
years ago, where I didn't talkabout winning.
I just talked about these threethings.
One, effort individually, uh,meaning I want everything.
I want physical, mental,emotional, spiritual, I want it
(21:43):
all.
I want 100%.
Okay, every time you step on afield for me.
Two, a growth mindset, not afalse growth mindset, an actual
true growth mindset.
We want to see you be able toget the mistake, take it, accept
it, and move forward and see ifwe can fix it.
Okay.
And and not I mean fix itbecause it's not gonna happen
again, but fix it because youunderstand what the problem was
(22:05):
and you're trying to make itbetter.
And then third, are you doingthe right thing?
Regardless of what happens on afield, are you doing the right
thing?
That means if I'm walking by andI see a piece of trash on the
sideline, regardless if it's myfield that we're playing on, our
home field or away field ortraining or whatever it is, are
you doing the right thing andpicking it up and throwing away
(22:27):
in the trash?
As simple as that.
Those three things you cancontrol.
Nothing else is controllable ona field.
Not the environment, not theother team, not the referee, not
the other players, not yourteammates.
All you have control over isyourself.
So once you have that, then youcan possibly be able to like
(22:47):
really go places, I think.
SPEAKER_01 (22:50):
So and as you were mentioning this, Malik, I was
thinking about where humilitymight factor in, but it looks
like it would be a subcategoryof number three of doing the
right thing.
SPEAKER_02 (23:00):
Just do the right thing, just stop, stop and think
about you know how you can helpwhen something looks wrong, do
the right thing.
If somebody's not acting right,do the right thing and let them
know.
We're all accountable forourselves, but also accountable
for each other on the team.
So we talk about this.
And for that year with thatteam, I experimented on that was
(23:23):
during the time I was getting mymaster's degree in soccer
coaching.
We won every game, and I neverspoke about winning once.
SPEAKER_01 (23:30):
Really?
unknown (23:32):
Huh?
SPEAKER_01 (23:33):
You were the Ted Lasso then.
SPEAKER_02 (23:35):
I didn't I didn't even talk about tactics, I
didn't even mention like youneed to do this or you need to
do that.
And once in a while I would putthem in the right spot just to
help them out and guide them.
But most of the time, those arethe three things I would remind
them.
And when they'd come off thefield, I would say, So what's
what's going on?
They're like, our effort sucks,coach.
We need to do this, this, andthis.
(23:55):
They took ownership, so that'sreally key too.
Them taking ownership, thembelieving that they understand
the game and they can do it.
So that's the process ofbelieve.
SPEAKER_01 (24:08):
And again, for that person that's listening in the
quiet corner corner of the room,as they say, right?
I think what Malik just hasdescribed in terms of his uh
coaching and playing career isthis is exactly the formula of
how you can be uber competitiveyet be humble at the same time,
as opposed to being ubercompetitive and being arrogant.
(24:31):
So, Malik, thank you for sharingyour spirit today and what that
means to hopefully influence uhan individual listening, uh,
whether that's streaming or onsocial media, about the ability
to be inspired, to becomeeducated, to become entertained,
but ultimately learn somethingabout yourself or rediscover
(24:53):
something about yourself.
And so, Malik, I thank you againfor sharing your story, sharing
your insights, sharing yourwisdom in terms of how to be
this good person at the end ofthe day, and what it means to be
that truth seeker.
Um, a couple of fun questions Iwanted to ask uh of you, Malik,
in terms of your playing days uhin Europe, and that is uh, you
(25:15):
know, just kind of pie in thesky questions.
So, who'd give the better peptalk to a bunch of 10-year-old
kids besides yourself?
David Beckham with his charm orDiego Meradona with his fire?
SPEAKER_02 (25:29):
Oh man.
SPEAKER_01 (25:30):
I assume you know both.
SPEAKER_02 (25:31):
Yeah, I know them both really well.
Um, you know, Maradona mighthave it depends on the the
group.
I think if it's a Latino group,it would definitely be Maradona.
If it's a group from Europe, itprobably will be Beckham.
So just depending on where thewhere they are and what they're
wanting to hear and how they'retrying to hear it.
SPEAKER_01 (25:51):
So gotcha.
SPEAKER_02 (25:52):
That's pretty much it.
I don't, I mean, both of themwould have a lot to say.
Maradona would be veryinteresting, but Beckham, of
course, has a great story aswell.
SPEAKER_01 (25:59):
Cool.
And then next question (26:00):
who would you rather arm wrestle?
Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose, is ituh Mourinho?
If I pronounced his namecorrectly.
SPEAKER_02 (26:15):
I don't know.
I I have utmost respect for bothof them, uh, but a little bit
more for Sir Alex.
Um, he did some astonishingthings in his career.
I think up at up until Pep, hewas probably considered maybe
the greatest coach ever.
Um, and now we have Pep who'sbroken all these kind of records
(26:36):
and stuff and continues to doso.
But I would say probably Marino,I'd probably go against him just
because Is that because youthink he'd win?
Probably because he's also moremy size.
SPEAKER_01 (26:48):
Cool.
And then final question (26:49):
who would be your ideal for some in
golf if you had to pick uh allof the legendary soccer players
that you know?
SPEAKER_02 (26:58):
Oh my gosh.
If they all could play golfreally well.
Or if they're hacks, yeah.
Pele would be the first.
For me, he's the greatest ever.
Um, Eusebio, which at the timewas considered the second best
player.
Wait, who's this person?
Uh he's from Portugal.
He was called the Black Panther.
Um, probably one of the greatestin their air.
Um Portuguese player, wellknown.
(27:20):
Uh Cruyff, definitely, becauseof his knowledge, and basically
everything we see today is adevelopmental piece of his
knowledge that he brought toBarcelona and through the total
game in the Netherlands, whichused to be called Holland, but
now they call it Netherlands.
I did like that term better.
Um, and then the final one.
(27:43):
Hmm.
Messi?
No, not nobody modern, probably.
It'd probably be um Socratesfrom from Brazil, who was not
only the captain of theBrazilian soccer team in the
80s, but also a doctor.
SPEAKER_01 (27:59):
Really?
SPEAKER_02 (28:00):
I didn't know that.
Amazing, amazing man.
So, and then phenomenal playertoo.
But I would be very curious topick up, you know, pick his
brain as we've golfed for 18holes.
SPEAKER_01 (28:10):
That's amazing.
Well, I think that's a great uhway to end the segment, uh,
Malik, in terms of thephilosophy, right, from the OG
Socrates to this Socrates thatyou know, and then finally
wrapping up with your incrediblestory and journey.
So, Malik, before we leave, isthere anything that you want to
(28:32):
share to the citizens of YogNation um regarding your
philosophy or anything that thatI didn't that I missed that you
wanted to share?
SPEAKER_02 (28:43):
I think the one thing is is the describing
myself as the truth seeker andunderstanding more about that.
Um I would say to be curious.
If you want to become a betterperson, curiosity is a big part
of it.
For my faith-based uh practiceand many others, you know,
(29:03):
seeking knowledge and theseeking, and almost all of them
strongly encourage it.
Attaining, seeking knowledge,seeking the truth.
And that's what that means tome.
Seeking the truth and being thetruth seeker is trying to figure
out what's really true and whatwhat kind of knowledge I can
attain.
Um, and if you ever think of me,think of me as that truth seeker
(29:27):
uh riding in an ocean of sand,because I'm from Libya, the
Sahara Desert encompasses all ofit.
For those who don't know, Libyais uh three times the size of
Texas with only seven millionpeople.
Um, so it's very, very vast, andit's an ocean of sand.
So think of me there.
And um, you know, just rememberthat you know that's that is
(29:50):
really the key to being a betterversion.
It's just seeking the truth andseeking and being curious and
and and wanting to learn aboutothers.
That all Also helps you becomeand stay humble.
SPEAKER_01 (30:03):
Well stated.
Thank you, Malik, for your time.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much, Yogi.
Absolutely.
God bless.
God bless to you.
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