Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexi Lalas have gone at it a few times now on Fox Sports’s soccer coverage desk, so who could have thought they’d be welcoming the knockout stages with a dance? With the group stage action ending and the tournament gearing up for the knockout stages, Zlatan was at his usual best again, but this time, he had something new up his sleeve.

During their show, Zlatan completely took over the segment from host Rebecca Lowe, urging America to “wake up” as the World Cup knockouts are about to start. In a hilarious monologue, the Swede called his fellow panelists out for putting the nation to sleep from the supposedly lethargic group stage action. In keeping with the banter, Zlatan stole a look at Lalas just as he was asking his colleagues to get their energy up.

If that was fun, the Swede got Thierry Henry and Lalas to get into the groove, dancing to the tunes of the famous Fimbu dance. It is a celebratory routine adopted by DR Congo, which they performed on the ground after securing a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan to reach the knockouts. However, the dance routine in the studios between Zlatan, Henry, and Lalas was a bit awkward, with the American trying to put on his dancing shoes alongside the other experts.

Fans throughout the coverage have been huge fans of Zlatan’s approach to the role of an expert analyst, while also being critical of Lalas’ role on the panel. The duo’s to-and-fro verbal battle also took social media by storm, as the Swede had brutal comebacks to the American’s take on the “arrogant” nature of the French team, when they were slow off the blocks in their opening match against Senegal.

“It’s not arrogance, it’s confidence. Ignorant people will say it’s arrogance, intelligent people will say it’s confidence”, is what Zlatan said in response to Lalas’s comments, with Henry’s stunned facial expressions in the background being the icing on the cake.

Now, with the new dance video between Lalas and Zlatan doing the Fimbu, fans have had their say.

Fans have their say on Zlatan Ibrahimovic dancing with Alexi Lalas on Fox

Fans were in awe and called Fox Sports’ hiring of Zlatan as an expert a masterstroke, celebrating the Swede’s no-nonsense, carefree attitude seen in the dancing video. “@FOXSports It was truly a masterstroke to put @Ibra_official in front of the camera. My guy is made for this through and through. Give the person who pulled this off a bonus. And raise Zlatan’s salary at the same time!”, said a fan.

Another fan echoed similar sentiments, saying, “Zlatan is right and we love him because he is authentic and fun.” Zlatan’s presence has impressed the people at Fox as well, who were not shy in feeding into the trope that fans had conjured up, by announcing the Swede as the Employee of the month and having Lalas present the award. However, one fan was optimistic that the duo would be friends after the World Cup, citing the Swede’s own quotes.

“Zlatan and Alexi were sync’d up with dance moves for about 1/4 of a second by my viewing here, which is about perfect for a .gif and a legendary moment captured in time  @StatManMosse don’t @ me you know Alexi and Zlatan are going to be friends before the end of the tournament. Because lions don’t concern themselves with the opinions of sheep”, said the fan.

However, at the other end of the spectrum, fans have been critical of Lalas’s role on the panel, stating that Henry and Zlatan have sufficient credentials to run the show. However, with the World Cup being hosted in the USA, it made sense for Fox to put a former American player on the panel alongside established stars, but that did not stop the critics from having their say.

“What is this Alexi guy actually doing? Why do you need him? You got Henry, arguably the best analyst, beside Klopp on TV and Zlatan, the best entertainer beside Big Meeks”, said one fan, while another made light-hearted fun of Alexi’s dance moves, saying: “You can tell Alexi has no rhythm”.

With the on-screen banter a hit, it’s expected that Zlatan and Alexi will keep at it, but the Swede might turn his attention to Henry, given that France has drawn Sweden in the first round of the knockouts.