Carli Lloyd Walks Back Criticism of the USWNT After Draw With Portugal

Fox analyst and former United States Women’s National Team player Cari Lloyd walked back on her comments Wednesday when discussing her criticism of the USWNT’s draw with Portugal to advance out of group play. 

“I was very critical of the team last night,” Lloyd said on Fox. “I’ve had some time to reflect, to sleep on it, and I want people to understand that I care deeply about this team.”

After the team’s match against Portugal, Lloyd called out the USWNT’s passion and said their performance was “lackluster” and “uninspiring.” She also caught flack when she ripped the team for celebrating after the match. 

"I want people to understand that I care deeply about this team."@CarliLloyd shares how her previous comments on the USWNT come from a place of admiration and how they were reflected in a legacy of success and generational greatness ???????? pic.twitter.com/2TIv8YQOVr

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 2, 2023

Several people within the soccer community took issue with Lloyd’s comments, including her former coach on the team. After his team’s draw, Vlatko Andonovski was told about her comments and called them “insane.” 

“The one thing I want to say is that this team wanted to win this game more than anything else,” he said. “They’ve put everything they could in preparation for this tournament and every game that they go into, so to question the mentality of this team, to question the willingness to win, to compete, I think it’s insane. 

“I’ve never seen this team step on the field and not try hard or not compete,” he continued. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion, they can say whatever they want, but I just know how this team feels. It’s not like we played well by any means. We owned it. We know it’s not good enough. We’re not happy with our performance, but we qualified for the next round. We’re moving on.”