MAGA soccer pundit Alexi Lalas has implored President Donald Trump not to “f--k up” the World Cup when it is hosted in the U.S. next year. The star claimed Trump’s behavior and ongoing immigration crackdowns will define both the country and the tournament. “Don’t ever let anybody shame you into not calling it soccer,” Lalas told Trump, following reports the president had flirted with signing an executive order changing the sport’s name to ‘football,’ as it is known worldwide. “We call it soccer. Own it, lean into it, and call it soccer.” He added: “This is on our watch, and so let’s not f--k it up. It’s going to reflect on us as just a nation, and it’s going to reflect on President Trump. And so he has a vested interest in it going well.” Yet despite Trump’s growing fondness for soccer, Lalas says the global perception that the U.S. is not a “welcoming environment” for foreigners could be a problem. “Look at the perception that people have of where America is right now,” Lalas told Politico. If what they are seeing, what they are reading, turns them off from taking that vacation through the World Cup, that is a problem.” The former USMNT star urged Trump to change the “negative perception” of America caused by his policies before the tournament starts and “nip that in the bud in a clear, efficient way.”
Read it at Politico
