Carli Lloyd stands behind USWNT criticism: ‘The truth hurts’
Carli Lloyd has no regrets about her criticism of the U.S. Women’s National Team at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
In fact, the legendary former USWNT midfielder — who is serving as a studio analyst for Fox Sports during the tournament — doubled down on her comments, telling The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch that she spoke the truth, and “sometimes the truth hurts.”
Prior to the USWNT suffering its worst finish in tournament history — a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Sweden after dramatic penalty shootout in the Round of 16 on Aug. 6 — Lloyd made headlines for her comments that the Americans weren’t playing with heart, and were exuding arrogance.
“This wasn’t anything that was scripted,” Lloyd told the outlet on Tuesday morning over the phone from Australia. “This was a reaction to what I was seeing, what I was feeling, what came from my heart.
“… 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.
“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.”
Ultimately, Lloyd — a 17-year veteran of the USWNT — didn’t like what she saw from the Americans.
“I did speak the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts,” she said. “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.”
Lloyd, who played in four World Cups for the United States, winning the tournament in 2015 and 2019, said she “wasn’t fully confident in this team” winning the 2023 World Cup.
“That’s not because of the lack of talent or the lack of players wanting to win,” the 41-year-old Lloyd said. “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.”
Lloyd, who retired from the sport in 2021, didn’t hold back on-air.
After the Americans appeared to celebrate a 0–0 draw with Portugal on Aug. 1, Lloyd said “the player of the match was [the] post” that deflected a potential Portuguese goal.
“I have never witnessed something like that. There’s a difference between being respectful of the fans and saying hello to your family,” she said on the Fox Sports studio show. “But to be dancing, to be smiling. I mean, the player of the match was that post. You were lucky to not be going home right now.”
After the U.S. was eliminated by Sweden in the round of 16, Lloyd said on-air that the Americans were “failing at the U-17 level [and] failing at the U-20 level.”
Although Lloyd isn’t contracted for any Fox Sports assignments beyond the 2023 Women’s World Cup, she’s looking forward to growing her broadcast resume.
“I’ve enjoyed every bit of this,” she said. “The best thing I can do is just continue to put myself out there in those uncomfortable situations because ultimately that’s how I’ll learn and grow and evolve.
“I am definitely open to more future opportunities. I think I’m getting my groove with it a bit and really kind of liking it.”
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