American football legend Carli Lloyd took her former team to task for the way USA players reacted on the field after an “uninspiring” 0-0 draw with Portugal on Tuesday night.
The powerful world No.1 ranked team was almost knocked out of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and if a Portugal strike in stoppage time had been a couple of centimetres to the left – rather than hitting the goalpost – they wouldn’t have made it out of the group stage.
It was a miserable result for the team many expect to win the tournament, but players were seen laughing, dancing, and taking photos with fans in Auckland despite the performance.
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Lloyd – who won two World Cups and two Olympic gold medals during 316 appearances for the US – could not believe what she was seeing.
“I have never witnessed something like that,” Lloyd told America’s Fox Sports broadcast.
“There’s a difference between being respectful of the fans and saying hello to your family… But to be dancing, to be smiling. I mean, the player of the match was that (goal)post. You were lucky to not be going home right now.
“We saw before the game, the dancing. There’s a difference between confidence and arrogance, and I think that’s a fine line of where is the direction going with that.
“It’s OK to be confident, but you never want to cross that line of becoming arrogant and this is exactly what can come and bite you.”
Lloyd has previously been critical of the culture under coach Vlatko Andonovski, who took the reins at the end of 2019, shortly before Lloyd retired.
On a podcast following her retirement in 2021, Lloyd claimed “the culture within the team was the worst I’ve ever seen it” before she decided to walk away.
She doubled down on those criticisms following Tuesday’s draw.
“Every time you step on the pitch, it’s not a guarantee you’re going to win. It’s not a guarantee you’re going to win a World Cup,” she said.
“Today was just simply uninspiring, disappointing. They don’t look fit. They’re playing as individuals. And the tactics are just too predictable.”
Andonovski was made aware of Lloyd’s comments post-game and had a chance to respond.
“To question the mentality of this team, to question the willingness to win, to compete… I think that’s insane,” he said.
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