Zlatan Ibrahimovic has undoubtedly took to his TV role at the World Cup with Fox Sports the same way he approached playing football. The Swedish striker was one of the three analysts alongside Thierry Henry and former US star Alexi Lalas who covered France’s opening day 3-1 win over Senegal.
However, with the score tied at 0-0 after the first half, Lalas branded France’s approach towards the game as arrogant, something Ibrahimovic immediately hit back against, per a post on the r/Soccer subreddit.
“It’s not arrogance, it’s confidence. Ignorant people will say it’s arrogance, intelligent people will say it’s confidence,” he said.
And well, Thierry Henry had the most hilarious reaction, staring into nothing with his eyes wide open.
Thierry Henry's reaction to Zlatan calling Alexi Lalas ignorant
byu/paulridby insoccer
Lalas had suggested that it was France’s quality that meant they could afford to be arrogant in the first half, although he did find things to praise as well.
“We can have that discussion but the reality is that if they are arrogant, it’s because they can do things like that. The patience that they showed after a poor first half to come back and provide a masterful second half with the talent that they have, and the big stars showing up, that’s pretty special,” he had said.
Kylian Mbappe and co. did not have the best of starts to the game. They attempted just one shot on target and the cache of offensive superstars on show did not seem to be gelling together in the first period.
Michael Olise started on the right with Kylian Mbappe up top and Désiré Doué on the left. Ousmane Dembélé was the No. 10, although France opted for a flexible approach. However, things seemed sluggish throughout the first half, something which immediately changed in the second.
Olise and Mbappe appeared telepathic, with the former setting up the Real Madrid star on multiple occasions in addition to the goal. Bradley Barcola came off the bench to get the second, with Mbappe once again scoring in the 96th minute, this time off a long-range strike.
Senegal got one back in injury time as well but were thoroughly outclassed by the talent the French put out. France will now take on Iraq in their second group-stage game.
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