Throughout her 16-year career with the United States Women’s National Team, Carli Lloyd emerged as a legitimate star for the squad and ultimately established himself as a certified legend. But according to her, that wasn’t always the plan.
Carli Lloyd sat down for an interview for the CBS Sports show “Kickin’ It,” and she got pretty candid in her words, calling out the USWNT as she believes the team never wanted her to become a star for the team when she was first coming up.
“I came into the U.S. Soccer scene and I wasn’t somebody that was necessarily being groomed to be the star of the team, nor do I think U.S. Soccer really wanted me to be the star of the team. I think that they pretty much probably want to see others rise,” Lloyd said.
"I came into the U.S. soccer scene, I wasn't necessarily being groomed to be the star of the team nor do I think U.S. soccer wanted me to be the star of the team."@CarliLloyd does not hold back on tomorrow night's brand new episode of Kickin' It, premiering at 8pm ET on… pic.twitter.com/R9fu17qC74
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 10, 2023
“Essentially I feel like they groom players coming in to be the stars, and then when someone else comes in, it’s sort of a resistance of: What can we do? Can we not publicize this player as much or give them enough attention? I felt like that throughout my entire career,” Lloyd said.
It’s a pretty insane claim from Lloyd, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media as a result.
She’s won 2 world cups, 2 gold medals, and many individual awards in the sport.
She’s 2nd all-time in USWNT appearances, and 3rd in goals scored.
When she retired, she had a 6 game farewell tour.
Why does she continue to feel so hard done by her time on the national team? https://t.co/FWlQ87nBU0
— Lesley Ryder 🇵🇷 (@RyderReally) October 11, 2023
Such a strange case. Amazing player, and on one hand, I like the openness about things (as she see them, of course). However, she also has clocked as an incredibly self-serving teammate, blasted others regularly, and continues to gripe about her experience as a USWNT player. https://t.co/XSjoCzqdQd
— Gabe (@GabeTheAmerican) October 11, 2023
It’s cause people don’t like you, honey. https://t.co/TXW6jeZLW7
— Liv (@heyitslivagain) October 10, 2023
I truly don’t think Carli Lloyd has ever been able to get over her disgustingly overinflated ego long enough to ever CONSIDER asking herself the question “am I the problem?” or have any level of self-reflection not driven by her desire to make herself more important than she is https://t.co/UWuqyH6jrJ
— Anna (@akschmtt) October 11, 2023
imagine being this entitled. She literally was given a 6 game retirement tour and what did other players get??? Nothing compared to that https://t.co/DCUUhdqdOM
— sav (@sav_an_nnah) October 11, 2023
@ Carli
You weren’t the star of the team bc you are literally insufferable and unfairly criticised everyone around you constantly
As someone who claims that being a good teammate is one of the most important aspects of football you should be able to accept not being the star https://t.co/obFfRoACph— sophie (@sapphospickle) October 11, 2023
Obviously, Lloyd finished her career as a legend for the team, scoring 134 goals in 316 appearances including her iconic hat trick in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final against Japan.
