Michael Bradley went zen on Alexi Lalas as perfect payback.
Bradley, the United States men’s soccer team captain and midfield lynchpin, reacted to Lalas’ recent criticism of Team USA on Wednesday, describing the high-profile rant fuel for motivation and directing a perfect dig at the national-team star of yesteryear.
“Part of being an athlete, a competitor is understanding that everybody has an opinion, especially in the world today,” Bradley told Sportsnet’s John Molinaro. “Everybody has a platform to fire off a hot take whenever they want. It’s life. You’re in the wrong business if that throws you off.
“You use it in the right ways, you use it as motivation. You make sure you don’t forget who the (people) along the way are who had a lot to say. One of the recent (sayings) that I’ve seen that I like is, ‘The lion doesn’t care about the opinion of the sheep.’ I’ll leave it at that. … It’s pretty fitting.”
Lalas made headlines when he blasted USA’s top players as “soft, tattooed millionaires” Sunday because of their struggles in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying. He even called out players by name, telling Bradley “The U.S. does not need you to be ‘zen,’ the U.S. needs you to play better.”
The U.S. might not need Bradley’s zen-ness on the field, but we certainly want it when he’s speaking to reporters.
Thumbnail photo via Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports Images
