Carli Lloyd And The Perils Of Telling The Truth
“The player of that match was the post.”
With those eight words, Carli Lloyd became either a refreshing voice or, once again, reviled in the eyes of America’s quadrennial fascination with soccer.
And then, she twisted the knife.
“I have never witnessed…” Lloyd began. “I’m just seeing these images for the first time right now, at the desk. I have never witnessed something like that. There’s a difference between being respectful of the fans and saying hello to your family, but to be dancing? To be smiling? … You’re lucky to not be going home right now.”
Lloyd, who also goes by her married name, Hollis, was a star midfielder for the US Women’s National Team for over a decade. She played in four World Cups, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and scored a hat trick in the final in Canada, 2015 as the women ran defending champion Japan off the field in Edmonton 5–2.
But Lloyd was sounding the alarm about this team after the Red, White and Blue’s underwhelming win over Vietnam in the opener. Then against the Netherlands, a 1–1 draw, both she and Alexi Lalas said the team was lucky and they needed to win — and win big — in order to avoid Sweden in the round of 16.
Lloyd is correct when she said the post saved the American’s hides. Just like the Canadians…
