Michael Lahoud Opens Up to Protagonist Soccer

Nearly 32 years ago, Michael Lahoud’s life changed forever. After his family became the only one in his village to earn an emergency VISA, Lahoud was whisked away from Sierra Leone and got on two flights as an unaccompanied minor, one from Freetown to Paris, and one from Paris to Washington D.C. In doing so, he almost certainly avoided becoming a child soldier in a bloody 11-year civil war that ripped his country apart.

Lahoud started a new journey in Northern Virginia, where he practiced his soccer skills and eventually won a scholarship to Wake Forest, where he established himself as a club icon and spearheaded the Demon Deacons to their first and only national championship in 2007. During the offseason, he represented Carolina Dynamo in the USL Premier Development League. Eventually, these stellar displays would attract the attention of now-defunct Chivas USA, who selected him with the ninth overall pick of the 2009 MLS Superdraft. Lahoud scored 5 goals and 6 assists in 74 appearances before leaving Los Angeles and moving back to the East Coast, with Philadelphia Union trading for him in May 2012 in exchange for Danny Califf. It didn’t take long for him to impose his quality, demonstrating his complete skillset against the likes of FC Dallas, D.C. United, LA Galaxy and more.

"Everyone at the CBS Golazo Network jokes with me and describes me as a combative player... I didn't realize that I used to kick a lot of players,” stated Lahoud in an exclusive Protagonist Soccer interview. “I was a hard-working, athletic player who could cover a ton of ground, very team-oriented and versatile, so I'm sure, my opponents will probably have different expletives to describe me, but I always took pride in those things.. I played every position except goalkeeper at some point in my career, and I was really adaptable. I had three different managers in my four seasons at Philadelphia, so I had to be adaptable to stay part of the team. I think I was always a student of the game as a player, and I still am now as, an analyst on TV.

He emerged as a key figure in Philly, making 65 appearances, whilst he also made his international debut for Sierra Leone, returning to his homeland after two decades. But in January 2016, Lahoud cut his MLS adventure short and joined NASL side New York Cosmos on a season-long loan, which was cut short after just four months with NASL side Miami FC buying his rights for a reported $300,000. After two years in South Florida, Lahoud made the move to Ohio and joined United Soccer League side (and current MLS outfit) FC Cincinnati, before heading to San Antonio FC for the final season of his career.

“I remember when I made the decision to go to the USL, I got a lot of phone calls from people who were asking, ‘What the hell are you thinking, man? And the fear around those who were in my circle, and even those who weren't, and who were former teammates, is ‘Once you leave Major League Soccer, if you're not going to Europe, not going to Mexico, if you're not going to play at a higher level, it’s really hard to get back through the door, so that was a gamble I was willing to make. For me, it was twofold: I was recruited by a manager who works for Apple TV in Major League Soccer now, Giovanni Savarese, and he had courted me a couple of times to play in NASL with the New York Cosmos. I was drawn by the desire to play for him, because I had a bunch of former teammates and friends who said that he made them better players. I was at a point in my career where I was playing for the national team, and it was a crossroads in my career where I wasn't sure what was coming down the pipeline. We had gone through a lot of chaos with the Union, and I wasn't sure I was ready to sign up for another season of uncertainty.”

“I remember being on a trip to Europe with my dad, and I asked him, ‘Dad, what do you think I should do? He had this knowledgeable grin, this sage wisdom about him, as he always does, and he said, ‘That's the dumbest question I've ever heard. You already know what the right decision is. And so I picked up the phone, called the Cosmos back, and said, ‘Yes, I'll come. What I didn't know was that I'd only be there for four months, and then another team would buy out my contract, because the setup is different from MLS where teams can buy out your contract. You're not getting traded, you're getting transferred, just like you can in Europe and the rest of the world. It was such a unique experience to play in Miami and Cincinnati, and it showed me that there is an undercurrent of grassroots soccer that does exist in this country, and there are some damn good players who don't get enough opportunities in the U.S. to play. There were some players that I played with in the USL and NASL who would run circles around some of my MLS teammates. I stand by that, and when we played in Open Cup matches, they did just that.”

After hanging up his boots, Lahoud remained in Texas, working as an assistant coach for Trinity University’s soccer team, before making the move to broadcasting and trading San Antonio for Austin FC. He served as the MLS expansion club’s color commentator alongside veteran analyst Adrian Healey between 2021 and 2023, in addition to enjoying freelance gigs with ESPN’s ACC Network and Longhorn Network and the CBS Sports Golazo Network, before eventually leaving departing for Connecticut in October 2023 and joining the CBS Sports Golazo Netowkr as an analyst for the nightly news and highlights show SCORELINE and additional CBS Network studio shows like MORNING FOOTY and BOX 2 BOX. Today, he balances his time between working as a pundit for CBS with raising his infant daughter with his wife.

“We do a weekly check-in at CBS and sometimes it’s good to take a look at our milestones. I was talking with a coworker of mine about this recently, ‘I want to be a voice for the World Cup. I know that's something that everyone in the industry wants to do, but it's something that is becoming more of a tangible thing. I'm very passionate about African soccer, I love watching Ligue 1, I think that’s a league that has so much heritage. And when you look at so many of the icons of the game who have touched other leagues, where do they come from, but France? So, I think being an advocate for French football, you know, being an advocate for German football, and opening people's eyes to a world outside of mainstream football.”

“I love the Premier League, I think we all have a Premier League team we support, but above all else, I love African football. So, to be able to do something with the Africa Cup of Nations, which is something that I grew up watching, that’s something I’d love to do; I get more passionate for AFCON than the Euros, it means that much to me. So, those are personal goals, and in terms of improvement, I think learning how to be more of a TV personality, not just an analysts. Someone who I admire quite a bit at CBS is Nate Burleson. He's someone who wears many hats, and he's a cool dude, so I’m hoping to be the cool dude version for soccer.”

- Zach Lowy