Latest news with #AlexiLalas
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Can Donald Trump finally be the one to sell Americans on soccer?
'Trump is the most pro-soccer president that we have ever had,' former U.S. Men's National Team defender Alexi Lalas recently claimed. President Trump has rarely looked more out of place — but maybe that was the point. On July 13, the blue-shirted squad of London's Chelsea Football Club stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the center of MetLife Stadium, still sweaty from the exertions of the Club World Cup final they'd just won. Moments earlier, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the driving force behind the new global competition, presented Chelsea captain Reece James with a gigantic golden trophy. Then Infantino scurried off, as dignitaries are supposed to do in these situations. But Trump lingered. The players seemed perplexed. One of them warned the president they were about to start celebrating for the cameras. The president didn't budge. So James shrugged and hoisted the Blues' new hardware. His teammates roared behind him. Fireworks flashed. Glitter erupted. And Trump, smiling and clapping, stayed right where he was, and right where he always wants to be — front and center. The fact that Trump was front and center for a soccer celebration — with a team of foreigners, no less — didn't appear to bother him one bit. 'Donald Trump is the most pro-soccer president that we have ever had,' former U.S. Men's National Team defender (and Trump supporter) Alexi Lalas recently told the Times of London. 'From a cultural, legacy and political perspective, he understands the power of what is coming next summer.' *** What is coming next summer is the classic, quadrennial World Cup, where billions of global fans watch their national teams compete for soccer's biggest prize. Given that the U.S. will also host that tournament (alongside Mexico and Canada), some stateside soccer fans are starting to wonder if Lalas is right — and if Trump, of all people, could be the guy to finally sell long-skeptical Americans on the (rest of the) planet's most popular sport. Needless to say, soccer is not 'America's pastime.' It never has been. That particular honorific belongs, of course, to baseball, which was codified in 1845, professionalized in 1869 and Ken-Burnsified in 1994. It's still the only sport to star in one of his sepia-toned documentaries. America's favorite sport, on the other hand, is clearly football — the NFL kind. According to Gallup, a full 41% of U.S. adults enjoy watching American football more than any other sport; a mere 5% say the same about soccer. This is nothing new. Gridiron has topped Gallup's surveys since 1972. Soccer isn't even the most popular sport to play in the U.S. (as much as it might seem like every kid has kicked a ball in a goal at some point). Instead, basketball dominates the category, with a youth participation rate (15%) roughly twice as high as soccer's (7%). Yet Trump's recent behavior suggests that Lalas is on to something. So far during his second term, the president has spent more time with Infantino than any official head of state. They traveled together to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and sat together at the Club World Cup final. When Infantino opened a new FIFA office in Manhattan earlier this month, he did it — where else? — at Trump Tower. During his first term, Trump pushed hard to secure the 2026 World Cup; after this summer's Club World Cup final, he pocketed a winner's medal as a memento. In fact, Trump is so fond of the elaborate Tiffany & Co. Club World Cup trophy unveiled back in April that he plans to keep the original and let Chelsea lug a replica back to England. "I said, 'When are you going to pick up the trophy?'' the president recalled. '[They said] 'We're never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We're making a new one.' And they actually made a new one. So that was quite exciting.' Trump even joked before the Club World Cup final that he could pass an executive order to align the U.S. with much of the rest of the world and ensure that Americans refer to soccer as 'football' from now on. 'I think I could do that,' he said with a smile during an interview with host broadcaster DAZN. *** There are other explanations, of course, for Trump's recent focus on soccer. Money is, as usual, one of them. According to Infantino, the Club World Cup raked in $2.1 billion, and next summer's World Cup stands to make far more. Together, FIFA estimates that the two tournaments will add $40.9 billion to America's GDP while creating nearly 300,000 full-time jobs. Power is another factor. As the Washington Post recently explained, 'Infantino helms an institution that is something like a secular Vatican (albeit with far more financial firepower). FIFA's footprint is on every continent, its project has the affection of billions of devotees, and the internal workings of soccer's global governing body are mysterious and shrouded in controversy.' No doubt Trump enjoys being courted and catered to by the Pope of world football. Pageantry and self-promotion undoubtedly play a part as well. Has this particular president ever shied away from spectacle? Has anything gilded ever not caught his eye? Some have even suggested more nefarious aims. 'Sportswashing' is the practice of using athletics to improve the reputation of any entity — a country, a corporation — that has a negative public image because of human rights concerns or other issues. With that dynamic in mind, Trump's critics claim he is using these massive global soccer tournaments, and their implicit message of openness, to paper over all the ways the U.S. is 'moving radically and quickly to close itself off from the rest of the world' via tariffs, travel bans and mass deportation, as the Ringer's Brian Phillips recently put it. But there's also some evidence that Trump simply enjoys the sport. In high school, he played for the New York Military Academy's varsity squad. 'He was just the best, a good athlete, a great athlete,' Ted Levine, a former high-school classmate, told Business Insider in 2015. 'Could he play soccer? He could do anything he wanted.' In 2012, Trump considered buying the Scottish club Rangers FC; a few years later, he did the same with the Colombian side Atlético Nacional. Meanwhile, Trump's youngest son, Barron, 19, is an avowed soccer fan, having played for D.C. United's U12 academy squad and joined his father for White House visits from United's first team and English striker Wayne Rooney. 'He was very knowledgeable about soccer, knew about D.C. United and was interested to know more,' United forward Patrick Mullins said of Barron in 2017. 'Little kid to have a passion for the game and to be knowledgeable and have a conversation with us, it makes me feel good about kids growing up playing the game.' After the Club World Cup final, the president told Cole Palmer, Chelsea's star attacker, that Barron was his 'biggest fan.' Trump was probably mistaken; Barron actually supports Arsenal, Chelsea's main London rival. But the comment shows how the younger Trump may be influencing his father. 'I have a son who does love this sport,' Trump told Piers Morgan in 2018. *** Whatever motivations — pure, pecuniary, political or all of the above — Trump's imprimatur has at least the potential to change the trajectory of the 'beautiful game' in America. Elsewhere, soccer is seen as a populist sport. But in the U.S., the opposite has long been true — especially on the right, among the very people who tend to gravitate toward Trump. 'Liberals … enjoy the experience of soccer precisely because it makes them feel less American,' conservative pundit Michael Medved wrote in 2014. 'They value the beautiful game for the same reason they enjoy singing 'We Are the World,' or stubbornly support the U.N., or automatically assume the artistic superiority of films with subtitles. … Soccer provides a perfect mechanism for transcending old-school nationalism: It's not only a game of global rather than distinctively American appeal, but what's even better is that the mighty United States isn't even particularly good at it.' It's not hard to imagine Trump embracing this view: that soccer is an essentially foreign pursuit, and that any American who likes it is actually anti-American. But he isn't. Instead, he's implying that there's no tradeoff at all, that there's nothing MAGA about rejecting soccer. Trump's supporters have been known in the past to follow his lead. Maybe they will again. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Can Donald Trump finally be the one to sell Americans on soccer?
'Trump is the most pro-soccer president that we have ever had,' former U.S. Men's National Team defender Alexi Lalas recently claimed. President Trump has rarely looked more out of place — but maybe that was the point. On July 13, the blue-shirted squad of London's Chelsea Football Club stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the center of MetLife Stadium, still sweaty from the exertions of the Club World Cup final they'd just won. Moments earlier, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the driving force behind the new global competition, presented Chelsea captain Reece James with a gigantic golden trophy. Then Infantino scurried off, as dignitaries are supposed to do in these situations. But Trump lingered. The players seemed perplexed. One of them warned the president they were about to start celebrating for the cameras. The president didn't budge. So James shrugged and hoisted the Blues' new hardware. His teammates roared behind him. Fireworks flashed. Glitter erupted. And Trump, smiling and clapping, stayed right where he was, and right where he always wants to be — front and center. The fact that Trump was front and center for a soccer celebration — with a team of foreigners, no less — didn't appear to bother him one bit. 'Donald Trump is the most pro-soccer president that we have ever had,' former U.S. Men's National Team defender (and Trump supporter) Alexi Lalas recently told the Times of London. 'From a cultural, legacy and political perspective, he understands the power of what is coming next summer.' *** What is coming next summer is the classic, quadrennial World Cup, where billions of global fans watch their national teams compete for soccer's biggest prize. Given that the U.S. will also host that tournament (alongside Mexico and Canada), some stateside soccer fans are starting to wonder if Lalas is right — and if Trump, of all people, could be the guy to finally sell long-skeptical Americans on the (rest of the) planet's most popular sport. Needless to say, soccer is not 'America's pastime.' It never has been. That particular honorific belongs, of course, to baseball, which was codified in 1845, professionalized in 1869 and Ken-Burnsified in 1994. It's still the only sport to star in one of his sepia-toned documentaries. America's favorite sport, on the other hand, is clearly football — the NFL kind. According to Gallup, a full 41% of U.S. adults enjoy watching American football more than any other sport; a mere 5% say the same about soccer. This is nothing new. Gridiron has topped Gallup's surveys since 1972. Soccer isn't even the most popular sport to play in the U.S. (as much as it might seem like every kid has kicked a ball in a goal at some point). Instead, basketball dominates the category, with a youth participation rate (15%) roughly twice as high as soccer's (7%). Yet Trump's recent behavior suggests that Lalas is on to something. So far during his second term, the president has spent more time with Infantino than any official head of state. They traveled together to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and sat together at the Club World Cup final. When Infantino opened a new FIFA office in Manhattan earlier this month, he did it — where else? — at Trump Tower. During his first term, Trump pushed hard to secure the 2026 World Cup; after this summer's Club World Cup final, he pocketed a winner's medal as a memento. In fact, Trump is so fond of the elaborate Tiffany & Co. Club World Cup trophy unveiled back in April that he plans to keep the original and let Chelsea lug a replica back to England. "I said, 'When are you going to pick up the trophy?'' the president recalled. '[They said] 'We're never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We're making a new one.' And they actually made a new one. So that was quite exciting.' Trump even joked before the Club World Cup final that he could pass an executive order to align the U.S. with much of the rest of the world and ensure that Americans refer to soccer as 'football' from now on. 'I think I could do that,' he said with a smile during an interview with host broadcaster DAZN. *** There are other explanations, of course, for Trump's recent focus on soccer. Money is, as usual, one of them. According to Infantino, the Club World Cup raked in $2.1 billion, and next summer's World Cup stands to make far more. Together, FIFA estimates that the two tournaments will add $40.9 billion to America's GDP while creating nearly 300,000 full-time jobs. Power is another factor. As the Washington Post recently explained, 'Infantino helms an institution that is something like a secular Vatican (albeit with far more financial firepower). FIFA's footprint is on every continent, its project has the affection of billions of devotees, and the internal workings of soccer's global governing body are mysterious and shrouded in controversy.' No doubt Trump enjoys being courted and catered to by the Pope of world football. Pageantry and self-promotion undoubtedly play a part as well. Has this particular president ever shied away from spectacle? Has anything gilded ever not caught his eye? Some have even suggested more nefarious aims. 'Sportswashing' is the practice of using athletics to improve the reputation of any entity — a country, a corporation — that has a negative public image because of human rights concerns or other issues. With that dynamic in mind, Trump's critics claim he is using these massive global soccer tournaments, and their implicit message of openness, to paper over all the ways the U.S. is 'moving radically and quickly to close itself off from the rest of the world' via tariffs, travel bans and mass deportation, as the Ringer's Brian Phillips recently put it. But there's also some evidence that Trump simply enjoys the sport. In high school, he played for the New York Military Academy's varsity squad. 'He was just the best, a good athlete, a great athlete,' Ted Levine, a former high-school classmate, told Business Insider in 2015. 'Could he play soccer? He could do anything he wanted.' In 2012, Trump considered buying the Scottish club Rangers FC; a few years later, he did the same with the Colombian side Atlético Nacional. Meanwhile, Trump's youngest son, Barron, 19, is an avowed soccer fan, having played for D.C. United's U12 academy squad and joined his father for White House visits from United's first team and English striker Wayne Rooney. 'He was very knowledgeable about soccer, knew about D.C. United and was interested to know more,' United forward Patrick Mullins said of Barron in 2017. 'Little kid to have a passion for the game and to be knowledgeable and have a conversation with us, it makes me feel good about kids growing up playing the game.' After the Club World Cup final, the president told Cole Palmer, Chelsea's star attacker, that Barron was his 'biggest fan.' Trump was probably mistaken; Barron actually supports Arsenal, Chelsea's main London rival. But the comment shows how the younger Trump may be influencing his father. 'I have a son who does love this sport,' Trump told Piers Morgan in 2018. *** Whatever motivations — pure, pecuniary, political or all of the above — Trump's imprimatur has at least the potential to change the trajectory of the 'beautiful game' in America. Elsewhere, soccer is seen as a populist sport. But in the U.S., the opposite has long been true — especially on the right, among the very people who tend to gravitate toward Trump. 'Liberals … enjoy the experience of soccer precisely because it makes them feel less American,' conservative pundit Michael Medved wrote in 2014. 'They value the beautiful game for the same reason they enjoy singing 'We Are the World,' or stubbornly support the U.N., or automatically assume the artistic superiority of films with subtitles. … Soccer provides a perfect mechanism for transcending old-school nationalism: It's not only a game of global rather than distinctively American appeal, but what's even better is that the mighty United States isn't even particularly good at it.' It's not hard to imagine Trump embracing this view: that soccer is an essentially foreign pursuit, and that any American who likes it is actually anti-American. But he isn't. Instead, he's implying that there's no tradeoff at all, that there's nothing MAGA about rejecting soccer. Trump's supporters have been known in the past to follow his lead. Maybe they will again. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Alexi Lalas Names Clear Favorite for USA-Mexico
Alexi Lalas Names Clear Favorite for USA-Mexico originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The United States Men's National Team will meet Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final for the eighth time on Sunday. Advertisement USMNT advanced to the final with a 2-1 win against Guatemala on Wednesday, sparked by two goals from rising star Diego Luna. Mexico, the defending Gold Cup champions, followed suit by taking down Honduras 1-0. The results set up the final in Houston on Sunday, which will kick off at 7 p.m. ET on FOX. After Wednesday's semifinals set up the first USA-Mexico clash in the final since 2021, Fox Soccer analyst and former United States international Alexi Lalas did not hesitate to name the favorite for Sunday's showdown. Fox Soccer analyst Alexi Lalas believes the US squad is the underdog in the Gold Cup Lee-Imagn Images Lalas named the United States as "absolute underdogs," taking it a step further by claiming that a loss would be "embarrassing" for Mexico as a nation. Advertisement Across seven previous meetings in the Gold Cup final, Mexico holds a definitive 5-2 record in the cross-border series. Lalas, 55, cited the "realities of the situation," referring to the rosters of both teams. Mexico entered the tournament with a mostly full-strength squad, while Mauricio Pochettino and USMNT had to deal with the absences of European-based stars who chose to sit out. Christian Pulisic was the most controversial absentee, but the Yanks are also competing without several other players expected to have key roles in the 2026 FIFA World Cup squad, such as Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah, Antonee Robinson and Sergino Dest. Advertisement In their stead, Luna and Malik Tillman have emerged as the leaders of the USMNT en route to the final. They have both recorded three goals and two assists in the tournament. Defender Cesar Montes is Mexico's leading scorer at the Gold Cup with three goals. Related: Christian Pulisic's Girlfriend Sends Clear Message Amid USMNT Absence Related: Cristiano Ronaldo Struggles to Make Sense of Diogo Jota's Tragic Death This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
American soccer greats hail rising star and Gold Cup hero Diego Luna as shining light for the USMNT's future
American soccer legends Landon Donovan, Alexi Lalas and Maurice Edu have all rushed to praise Diego Luna as he looks set to battle Malik Tillman to become the USMNT's starting number 10 at next year's FIFA World Cup. Luna scored both goals on Wednesday night in America's 2-1 Gold Cup semi-final victory against Guatemala, continuing the midfielder's meteoric rise from the USL to international stardom. Speaking on FOX Sports, Donovan emphasized just how impressive the 21-year old's performances have been: 'Guys, three years ago, Diego Luna was playing in the USL, for the El Paso Locomotive. I literally coached against him - the second division of America.' 'Today, he pushed his team to the Gold Cup final. Incredible story, could not be happier for that young man.' Having scored his first ever international goal in America's tense quarter-final win over Costa Rica on penalties, Luna now has three goals in two games for Mauricio Pochettino 's side. The Argentinian head coach will hope that Luna's superb form in 2025 will help propel the USMNT to an upset against tournament favorites and defending champions Mexico in Saturday's final. Despite being left out of last year's Olympic squad, Alexi Lalas believes that the 2003-born Real Salt Lake star is starting to put himself in contention for a starting position at the World Cup: 'He's doing the right things, he's saying the right things, and those moments that are coming are memorable'. Lalas, who made 96 appearances for America's national team, also credited Luna for silencing some of the side's many critics ahead of this year's Gold Cup: 'It's in the context of a team that came into the tournament, where there was a lot of negativity towards this team. And there still is. I'm sure there's a lot of people who aren't sold on, whether its Diego Luna or anyone else out there. But sports are for the moment. You have to be able to celebrate these moments.' 'It's fun to see others celebrate this team in terms of what they are doing. A lot of it is for someone like Diego Luna. For the way that he plays, and the way in which he holds himself when he plays.' Lalas' description of Luna as a much needed breath of fresh air for America is one that Maurice Edu has also agreed on, going as far as to say that the question has now shifted away from whether or not Luna can make the World Cup side and rather If he will be good enough to earn a start: 'I feel like the two of them are competing for that No. 10 position, Luna and Tillman'. Luna and the rest of Pochettino's side will look to secure America's eighth Gold Cup title on Saturday as they return to the final for the first time since 2021 in what will be their last competitive game before next year's World Cup.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Landon Donovan Makes Bold Claim On Mauricio Pochettino's Brentford Links
Landon Donovan Makes Bold Claim On Mauricio Pochettino's Brentford Links originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The USMNT had a tough quarter-final match in the Gold Cup against Costa Rica, but ultimately came out on top 4-2 in a penalty shootout. Pochettino's team is still alive in the competition. Advertisement A few key players were missing from the squad due to the Club World Cup, including Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Samuel Mbangula. As Mauricio Pochettino continues to lead the USMNT toward the 2026 World Cup, rumors about a return to European club management are heating up — with Brentford emerging as a possible destination. The club is currently in the market for a new manager. Since returning to the Premier League in 2021 under Thomas Frank, now head coach at Tottenham, Brentford has been one of the league's dark horses, regularly stealing points from the big six and putting on entertaining performances. According to a questionable rumor, Pochettino was interviewed for the Brentford job while still coaching the USMNT during the Gold Cup — something Landon Donovan and the Fox Soccer crew hoped wasn't true. Co-host Alexi Lalas didn't hold back either. 'If that had been true and our head coach was interviewing for other jobs during the Gold Cup, I'd be here telling you he needs to resign immediately,' said Lalas. Advertisement Donovan was equally vocal, criticizing the source of the rumor: 'Whoever put that report out — you've got some credibility issues if that's not true. He can't do that.' Pochettino Denies Brentford Contact Rumors Pochettino firmly denied any contact with Brentford and labeled the reports as false. He emphasized that his full focus is on the USMNT and preparations for the 2026 World Cup. He also made it clear that any club interested in speaking with him must go through US Soccer, as he remains under contract. 'This club never contacted me. I never talked to them,' Pochettino said when presented with the report. Advertisement After years with Spurs, Pochettino was eventually sacked by the club. He later managed PSG and Chelsea briefly before taking over the USMNT. Now, he looks set to guide the national team into the next World Cup. Tim Howard had previously expressed hope that Jesse Marsch would one day take over as USMNT head coach, but Marsch himself has ruled that out. He's currently managing the Canadian national team. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
