Former American soccer player Carli Lloyd recently reaffirmed her criticism of the U.S. Women’s National Team during the 2023 World Cup. The famous midfielder doubled down on her remarks stating, “Sometimes the truth hurts.”
Earlier this month, Lloyd had claimed the women’s team wasn’t playing with heart and was displaying arrogance. Following her comments, the USWNT suffered what is being described as one of the worst World Cup losses in history. On August 6th, the women’s team lost 5-4 to Sweden after a penalty shootout where Megan Rapinoe blew the game with a devastating missed penalty kick.
“This wasn’t anything that was scripted,” Lloyd said. “This was a reaction to what I was seeing, what I was feeling, what came from my heart.” She continued, “ So I think maybe I was the only one brave enough to say it how it is. I’ve always been somebody that is blunt, that’s honest, that maybe comes across to the media as being selfish, arrogant, all these words that I’ve heard about me. And that’s been pretty wild to hear because it’s really not true.”
The female soccer veteran has also spoken about the declining reputation of the U.S. Women’s National Team, especially given the recent high-profile loss in the Round of 16. Lloyd alleged that the team got too comfortable as a once formidable opponent to the rest of the world and that the loss to Sweden should serve as a “wake-up call” to the program.
“To be that everybody feared the US and the US was always on, you know, going in confident to these tournaments. But I think when you when it’s easy to get comfortable, and I think this is a humble moment for the program for the players, for the coaching staff, and it’s a wake up call for the entire program because it’s easy to turn a blind eye when the senior team is winning, but this stems down at the youth level,” Lloyd said.
She went on to explain how America needs to raise female soccer players at a youth level that can compete on the global stage. “The last time there was a Youth World Cup championship that was one came in 2012,” she said. “And it has to be a priority to develop players to get them fit again, to get them technically sound tactically sound and now we’re chasing the rest of the world.”
Carli Lloyd on the #USWNT's early exit:
"This is a humble moment for the program—for the players, for the coaching staff—and it's a wake-up call for the entire program." #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/berjSU5WKL
— Jennifer X. Williams (@JenXperience) August 11, 2023
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Lloyd continued to explain her claim that the team behaved arrogantly, alleging the women contradicted the values of the USWNT. “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 claimed. “I did speak the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts,” she said defending her claims. “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.”
Note: Featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.