Carli Lloyd wrapped up her career for the U.S. women’s soccer team in 2021 ranking second all-time in career caps and third in career goals. Yet, at least in her later years, she was not enjoying her time with the team.
Speaking as a guest on former teammate Hope Solo’s podcast, Lloyd detailed how much she “hated” playing on the team, particularly due to what she described as a poor locker room culture.
“Within our squad, the culture has changed. It was really tough and challenging to play these last several years. To be quite honest, I hated it,” Lloyd said. “It wasn’t fun going in, and it was only for love of the game for me. I wanted to win, and I wanted to help the team, but the culture within the team was the worst I had ever seen it.”
Lloyd played for the national team from 2005 to ’21, playing a central role in two Olympic gold medal-winning squads as well as two World Cup championship teams. She played in her final game for the USWNT in an international friendly in October, and after the game gave a speech to the crowd in which she thanked her teammates, past and present, for all they’ve given her throughout her career.
“To my amazing teammates and former teammates, I’ve had the privilege to play with some unbelievable players throughout my career … I think the biggest thing I’m taking away from this journey is the memories, is the journey with every single one of you,” Lloyd said. “I’ve played together with many of you for a lot longer than other, but every small part, you’ve all played a huge role in my career, and I can’t thank you enough for the memories.”
In her interview with Solo, the former USWNT goalkeeper echoed many of Lloyd’s sentiments, saying that she too did not enjoy the “culture and politics” of playing for the national team. Neither delved into specifics during the nearly two-minute clip that Solo posted.
“Every time I left for camp, my husband hated to see me sad” Solo said. “I didn’t want to go to that culture of the camp. I didn’t want to go to the social aspect of camp ... I didn’t want to be around everybody and the culture of the team. It was really difficult.
“I don’t think people understand how difficult emotionally and mentally that is. It’s tough, I just wanted to be a professional athlete, I wanted to be cutthroat and I wanted to win,” Solo said. “But, you still have to play the political game and the social games sometimes.”
