Former Tottenham Hotspur -goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ranked the chances of Los Angeles FC to beat Chelsea in their club World Cup opener on Monday as “thin” but said his team “has nothing to lose”.
The MLS side are underdogs against the Premier League Giants, who obtained their return to the Champions League this season and won the UEFA Conference League.
“We have nothing to lose, especially against an opponent such as Chelsea,” Lloris, who signed for Lafc in 2024, told reporters in Atlanta on Sunday.
“We want to compete, we want to give our best even if we know that our opportunities are very thin.
“We just want to make our fans, our club, proud of us.”
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Lloris said that Lafc “had to keep the focus high” in the collision in Atlanta, and was on their care for the increased pace of the game compared to competition football in the United States.
“This type of game is also an opportunity for us to perform,” added the 38-year-old, a World Cup winner in France.
Los Angeles coach Steve Cherundolo said that Veterans Lloris and former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud, who also won the World Cup with Les Bleus in 2018, had given a lot of advice to his largely young side.
“Both bring leadership, also by doing and not just in words,” the coach explained.
“I think the players have had more of one ear this year for both, and those two have also had a voice – which describe the speed of playing, describing how certain teams, more specifically Chelsea Play, the players they have, what they should pay attention to.”
The American coach said that his team was fully prepared for the challenge on the part of Enzo Maresca.
“I learned when you start hoping as a coach, you are doomed,” he said.
“It's a bit the start of the end. So we don't try to hope, we prepare and have plans for everything that can get in our way.”
Lafc qualified for the tournament with a dramatic play-off victory at the club America of Mexico to replace Club Leon, who were excluded by the organizers FIFA from the tournament for violating rules for multi-club ownership.
“It's a pleasure to be here and we don't see it as a challenge or an obstacle,” the coach added.
“It's just a huge opportunity for us.”