By — PBS News Hour PBS News Hour Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/local-world-cup-tournament-brings-rios-fervor-new-york-city Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio "Cosmos Copa" is a New York City-based World Cup giving 40 international teams the chance to claim their own trophy. The all-male teams are local groups, comprised of amateur, semi-pro and former professional athletes representing their national heritage. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. HARI SREENIVASAN: Here in New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the world, a local soccer tournament – partially-sponsored by a professional soccer club – is giving 40 international teams the chance to claim their own trophy.Welcome to Cosmos Copa — a mini-World Cup, if you will. The all-male teams are local groups, comprised of amateur, semi-pro and former professional athletes representing their national heritage. NICK PUGLIESE: What makes this tournament special is sort of this celebration of all the ethnicities and nationalities in New York. HARI SREENIVASAN: American Nick Pugliese is a member of team NYC-Afghanistan; having been the first American to play professional soccer in Kabul, he got the unique opportunity to re-join some soccer colleagues from Afghanistan here at Cosmos Copa. NICK PUGLIESE: It's an opportunity to come together with your community and play soccer and hopefully have, you know, have a good time and achieve something together. HARI SREENIVASAN: The tournament attracts some of the best hidden soccer talent in the tri-state area. From Ireland, to Argentina, Guyana to Greece, any group can be represented as long as they can field a team of 18 players. And similar to the world cup, political differences are temporarily set aside with national pride at stake. MOHAMMAD YUSEF MASHRIQI: I'm taking this tournament very seriously to represent Afghanistan, and if we do well I'm sure all Afghans around the world will hear about it in social media. HARI SREENIVASAN: Mohammad Yusef Mashriqi is captain of the NYC-Afghanistan team. He was born and raised in Queens, NY…but has spent the past three years playing for the Afghan National Team – which won a major south Asian tournament in 2013 – creating a frenzy back in Kabul.Today, team NYC-Afghanistan is hoping to create a frenzy of their own as they have advanced to the next round of the tournament. Cosmos Copa will conclude August 2 at Hofstra University. Listen to this Segment Watch Watch the Full Episode PBS NewsHour from Jul 13, 2014 By — PBS News Hour PBS News Hour