Carli Lloyd.Photo:Ira L. Black - Corbis/Getty
Ira L. Black - Corbis/Getty
Carli Lloyd meant what she said.The 41-year-old retired soccer star was unapologetic ina new interviewwithThe Athleticon Tuesday, telling the outlet she was “the only one brave enough to say it how it is" afterblasting the United States Women’s National Teambefore — and after — they wereknocked out of this year’s Women’s World Cup.
The team’s exit from the World Cup in the Round of 16 was the earliest the U.S. has ever been eliminated from the tournament. Lloyd was a part of the USWNT’s last two World Cup wins in 2015 and 2019, and said she wasskeptical this year’s teamcould pull off an unprecedented three-peat.
“The team was disjointed, was not a unit and the coaching was not what this team needed,” the two-time World Cup winner said Tuesday. “So I saw this, I felt this, I experienced this. I wasn’t truly confident in this team winning the World Cup. That’s not because of the lack of talent or the lack of players wanting to win. Every player wants to win. But there are certain steps and processes that you have to go through in order to win. There’s a certain formula that a championship team has.”
“That’s been pretty wild to hear because it’s really not true,” she said.
“I think there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and I just saw this team go in a direction where the values that were built and instilled in this team is not what was displayed out at this World Cup," Lloyd continued.
Carli Lloyd.WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty
WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.The USWNT only managed to win one of its three group stage games and barely made it to the knockout round after a 0-0 tie with Portugal — a game that was nearly lost in the final moments when a Portuguese shot rang off the Americans' goalpost.Afterwards, Lloyddidn’t hidehow upset she was to see the U.S. players celebrating the draw, which ensured they’d move on to the Round of 16, where they later lost to Sweden on penalty kicks.“To be dancing? To be smiling? I mean, the player of the match was that post,” she said during the broadcast. “You’re lucky to not be going home right now.”
Carli Lloyd.David Berding/Getty
David Berding/Getty
But the player-turned-broadcaster stood her ground while speaking withThe Athletic.
“I did speak the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts,” Lloyd told the outlet. “But it came from my heart. The world has caught up. I get that. But there’s no reason why we still can’t be at the top. But we have regressed so far down that there really is no gap. That’s what’s hard to swallow because the team has been built on legacies that have been passed down from generation to generation, and I simply didn’t like what I saw.”
source: people.com
