Welcome in. It's time for another soccer down here, one v one on the SDH network. I'm Jason Longshore and today, alongside Madison Cruz, we had the chance to sit down and speak to new Atlanta United center back in Ami Kai, the Albanian international. We've seen him on the field a few times now for Atlanta United, and I think it was pretty evident very quickly what kind of a presence he could have in this group. He came onto the field as a substitute and in his first couple of
minutes wearing the Atlanta United kit, he was organizing. He was making sure that people had their marks. Love to see that sort of thing, and I hope you'll love to hear this conversation with in a I felt like afterwards I had a better sense of not just who he was as a soccer player, but who he is as a person. Hopefully you'll feel that as well. Here's our conversation with Nam Cockey.
First thing for me, just for you, like when did it all start? You know, when did you find the game?
Yeah?
I was like I think when I went to a professional, professional professional like for kids playing for kids was like twelve thirteen years old.
That's not too early, you know.
It was like my father, my family, you know, was a little bit hard for them because they was working, so it was not so easy to drive me to the academy. I was in Rhodes is an island in Greece when I started, and yeah, then I moved on to one more academy that was like cooperated with a big team in Greece, Olymbihaicos, but was in the island. And then yeah, at sixteen, I went to my first club that was a professional club, Plandel, because it's a
first division club in Greece. I left my family at this age, and then I became professional in this club and then I move on to palk to Portugal and now I'm here.
I think, just you mentioned your family, what did it mean to you to have that support from them as well when you started so young and then going to your first special club when you were sixteen as well.
Yeah, I always respect them even more about this because, like I said, one more time, they sacrificed many things for me and my sister, Like they left the country for financial reason, they went to another country that it's not easy obviously, and then to my party know, they try to help me also sacrifice one more time to try to move on with the cars and all of
these things, the stuff that I need. And even when I was sixteen, you know, it's not easy decision for a partent, So say to the kid, Okay, now you go in another place that's far from them.
But they trust me.
I trust them, and that's important and I'm really happy for what they did for me.
You know when you were a kid, was there a moment, a player, a coach that you remember that kind of made you feel like, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
There was two.
One of them was when when I went in this academy, I told you that was a coach that teach me things like also he tried to help me even training with another team with then I was like thirteen years old and I was training with the with the team like with men. Not in my age, you know, there was men. So that was really good for me. They improved me a lot. And the second one and maybe the most important, was the first coach I had in the academy when the team might become professional in Panetardkos.
His name is George Startasis, he's still like before I come here in the individual preseason I was doing.
We work together.
For me, his unbelievable coach, like also a person you know. I can speak with him and he always now tried to see my games, you know, even he's late comparing to Greece in no time. And that's one of the persons that I have in.
My heart, and I'm really happy that I met him.
You know, how important is it to have a support system like that, especially in the support as well, because I feel like, you know, we kind of get lost on it sometimes talking about I think the mental side of the game and everything. How important is it to have someone in that support system for you when you are in those moments.
Yeah, it's very important, you know, for me exactly what you say. One of the if you see some teams that maybe maybe they don't have so much quality or like they are not the big names or comparing. Sometimes they play two teams and you say this is the favorite of the game and the other one no, and then the other team is when why is happenings?
For me? Is the relationship you have in football?
You know, So that's important that we have to build even more here I don't say that is not good. Is in a good level, but we can improve it even more and more. And that's, you know, make the difference because in the end, when your teammates that you feel him like a really good close to you, when you do a mistake, you would run for him to cover him, he would run for you, and that's make
the big difference. So in football that's a really important thing because sometimes you know the things that are around the football, the money, the marketing, the pressure like sometimes make you come in a dressing room and like, okay, I do my job. I have pressure for that, or I don't have pressure to depend the player and I don't want to create a relationship.
I don't want to.
But in the end I had some older players I played with and they always say, like, what is staying is okay, the money we will not lie to. That is the money that stay in the end of the career. The trophies you want, and the friends you make from football. You know, that's three things, and the thirties the friend So it's nice to have this kind of relationship in pool.
I'm sure you had a lot of those friends at family coal and it was probably difficult in a lot of ways to leave. You know, what was your time like in Portugal?
Yes, especially my third year was the best one in this term of how was the relationship, but also the first two years. I make some good friends there, like teammates, but also the physios, other people that was like around me, like helping me with things. And yeah, it was not easy decision, but in the same time was a decision with heart and minded because I was feeling like I want to be in a place to be motivated to
give more, you know, to push me. And I was feeling like after three years I achieved what I had to achieve and it was time to change. But like this relationship stay with me. And even now we are talking and we're going to talk in the future too, you know, that's important.
I want to ask you. You know you were you were a captain in your last club. What were some of the biggest lessons you learned while being a captain and what were some of the biggest hardships you had to go through as captain as well?
You know, the what I learned and what I try to keep with me is like the captain have to do two things here daily in the trainings, in the games. You have to be the example, the example, not only performing scoring being the best. You know, that's the that's impossible to happen, you know, to be always the best, but the example of sacrifice, the example of hard working, the example of when something going going wrong, to take
the responsibility. And that's what I take like a lesson from my previous adventure as a captain in my last club. But sometimes, you know, let's have some hard things, like you have to be tough even with your like we say before French teammates in the dressing room, you have to say the truth to them. They have to say to you the truth, you know, and that sometimes become
a little bit hard. But I think me personally, I prefer when someone say to me something like in my face, you know you have to do better, you did it good, or I don't know what or you have in this situation of out of football, like even in the dressing room, I didn't like how you spoke to me, or I like what you said to me. And that's an important thing, you.
Know, hearing that you definitely sound like a rownnie dialog kind of player. And what were your conversations with him when you were making the decision about coming here. What swayed you about wanting to come to Atlanta?
Many things, you know, many things.
When I spoke with him, First of all, he explained the way of playing. And you know, maybe you say, now, okay, the results are not exactly what we want, but I see in moments of our play that what we can create and what we are creating when we'll arrive in the point that will be ninety minute with consistency will be something like not many team can face, you know.
And I think that's the first part.
And the second part it was what he was thinking about me, what can I bring to the club, to the team, and uh, what he wanted from from me? And that's it's a little bit more personal. I don't want to, but yeah, it was really important and I understand that also the project is not in three months four months, but it's in long term and that's a important thing. And uh yeah, maybe now later someone we're gonna hear and have some doubts about it, but I don't have doubts about it.
I wanna ask you about, uh, how has you adjustment, Ben, you know, coming to Atlanta and coming down here, as well. What has it been like for you getting to see the sites, getting to see everything, even though it's probably been you know, no MOUs time to actually get to go around and see Atlanta right now with the season, But how's it been like for you?
Justin I'm impressed, Like you know, when you speak when you are in Europe and you speak about usay, you think like huge buildings, no green at all, like many people, a lot of traffic. Honestly, I really like I see green, a lot of natural and that's really nice for me.
I like it.
I like sometimes when I have a day or for a little bit time enoughternoon go to work with my family, and that's the important thing.
Also when I came here, everyone.
Say like the traffic is terrible, But honestly, until now I don't face it, you know. I also I use enough and sometimes it's not sometimes daily it's even worse than that. So it's not something too bad, you know.
Yeah, it's true.
I don't have too much time to see the city. But what also impressed me is the people here. And I think this is probably in all the usay, but here they are very kind, like really kind, and that's really nice. You know, I'm impressed of that, and yeah, everything is nice. Now I try to set it, you know, with my apartment. All of this did I'm not in my apartment, so it's a step by step, but yeah,
it's I'm really enjoyed. In the start, I was a little bit worried, you know, like I'm a guy that I like more quiet life, and I was thinking this would be hard for me. But until now what I face, I really enjoyed.
You know, you did an interview with Ilani and I that was posted yesterday. I want to ask about this too. You talked about nature, like where did that love of nature come into play for a lot of this too.
I think walking in the nature and all of these things is a way to relax your mind, put out thoughts and this kind of thing. So it's something that I always I don't know, I don't have the reason. Maybe because the island I was living is Green Island, you know, maybe because of that, and maybe I don't know exactly why, but it's something that I really love to like to enjoy the walk in this kind of nature, in this kind of thing.
Listen, I'll give you a recommendation. Coffee spot Chattahoochee River Company and it's right on the river, so you can go get a coffee and it's right on the river.
Is gorgeous.
I go there all the time to work on stuff. It's gorgeous, right. I think it's right up your alley as well.
Okay, okay, how important is it for your family getting settled as well? And I know it's something that we've talked about a lot with people here at the club. They go out of their way to try to not just get you settled, they get everybody that is with you settled. However, they kind of settled into Atlanta. How are they liking it so far?
Yeah, First of all, Louise and Money here from the club like doing everything for me.
I'm really I.
Have a huge thing for them, and you know, they do everything for me and I really appreciate it. Yeah, it's quite hard because my son now is in the eleven months you know, started working, and for my wife, like I spent here like from seven until two to thirty, so I spent many hours here. So in this moment it's a little bit hard for her. But okay, yeah, you know when we move to our apartment and we
find our like daily routines. They're gonna be better. And also later her mother, my mother, my family, her family will come here so we will have a person to help us more. But they are doing good, you know, they also like my wife like it. It's of course, I don't want to lie. Sometimes it's hard. You know, we are new in the in the city. We don't have many people like go in a coffee or come to our house, you know too. But even with Louis, like we went many times for Land's dinner.
So it's nice. It's nice to really good.
How is becoming a father impacted the way that you play the game in those months, whether it's you know, the way you view the game or how you approach it on the field as well, how's becoming a father helped in those moments?
Yeah?
You know what I think changed on this situation is like when you become a father. You know that maybe before of that football.
For me personal maybe this is personal.
Like for me football was like top of the top, everything was around it.
I don't know. Now it's not that it's not like.
This still is like this, but you know, in a bad day, in a good day, especially in the bad day, you have in your mind that Okay, I have a son.
I have a son that you know that's.
He wants to go to home to play with me, his smile to you, so you for everything. That's a nice think and I think this is the biggest sense that when you become a father helpen you know. And also like many times when you're entering the pitch, when I'm entering the pitch, I feel like, Okay, now I play also for my son, like to feel proud for his father, not for the performance, but like the guy that he entered, excite and give. Everything is good or bad, but he gave everything, you know.
That's big thank you to NAA for taking the time to sit down with us after a pretty intense training session in Marietta as Atlanta United gets ready to face the Colorado Rapid. It's also big thank you to everybody with the Atlanta United communications staff for making an AA available. We'll be catching up with more Five Stripes as we go the rest of the way, hopefully introducing you to some of the new faces that are representing the club, both with the first team and with the second team.
It's a busy weekend for Atlanta United. Soccer on ninety two nine the game and the SDCH Network. Saturday night eight point thirty is the start for the Five Stripes Countdown with Madison Cruz and with nick A Leafy and maybe with Jarrett Smith chiming in with Mike Conti and myself in Denver, Colorado technically Commerce City as the Colorado Rapids will host at Lanta United and then Madison and myself and John Nelson will join the fray and we will have at Lanta United to soccer for you on
the SDH Network on Sunday live from Kennesaw. Hopefully you can join us for that pregame coverage we'll start at seven pm or we'll see you at Fifth Third Stadium. Thank you for supporting everything we do at the SDH Network. Make sure you're following us on all your social media platforms and we will have more soccer talk for you very very soon. As always, we are around the corner from everywhere and