“They did her dirty”, “Somebody needs to be fired” - Alexi Lalas blasts ‘big problem’ with Shakira performance at Copa America final

American former footballer Alexi Lalas has blasted the organizers of the 2024 Copa America final for letting Colombian singer Shakira down during her performance. Lalas believes Shakira wasn't provided with the necessary support to make her halftime performance a success.

Shakira performed during the contest between Argentina and Colombia for the 2024 Copa America title on Sunday, July 14, at the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida.

Speaking on Alexi Lalas' State of the Union podcast, he said:

“I don’t know a tremendous amount about this Shakira character. I’ve heard of her over the years, I’ve seen her ‘Hips don’t lie’. She was married to Pique and then they had some problems and they split up but before they were a long-time power couple. He may have strayed [in that relationship]."

“I have nothing against Shakira, she seems to be a big star. The actual performance, I don’t think it was anything historic or will be remembered. Couple of things were a little strange for me. One, she came out alone and it was almost as if everyone was looking around and going, ‘where the hell are the backup dancers?’"

"It begged for backup dancers and she was solo dancing around. It just didn’t look normal. Eventually they came out, but that was a little weird [at first]."

Lalas added:

“My big problem, I don’t know who does their lighting. I don’t know who the production team was, but somebody needs to get fired. The lighting on her legs and she might have been wearing some fishnet thing, but the lighting on the legs cast these shadows which made it look like she had fish scales and even worse. No man or woman wants that when you’re performing. They did her dirty. This was a bad decision and an unnecessary type of decision."

“They could’ve figured out the lighting properly, but in not doing it, they did an actual disservice to the artist.”

Despite the criticism leveled at the organizers of the Copa America final by Lalas, Shakira completed her set during the halftime show. Her native Colombia, however, could not secure a win despite a spirited performance, losing to a 112th minute Lautaro Martinez strike.

Colombia head coach Nestor Lorenzo criticized Copa America organizers for Shakira's halftime concert

Colombia head coach Nestor Lorenzo blasted the organizers of the 2024 Copa America for scheduling Shakira's concert at halftime of the summit clash.

Lorenzo stated that the extension of the halftime break from the usual 15 minutes to 25 minutes for the concert was a bad idea as the players could cool down too much. He had stated on Saturday:

"Players can get cold, but it’s on both sides. I found out today that this is how it is, and that’s it."