The US women’s national soccer team has continued its pattern of social justice displays during the Olympics despite the international competition’s rules against the practice. The team has stood for the playing of the national anthem before matches, but has later taken knees over racism.
Prior to the US’ bronze medal game on Thursday against Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Carli Lloyd did not kneel.
Lloyd, along with Lindsey Horan and Julie Ertz, were among the few members of the team to stand for the national anthem during friendlies over the fall. Other members kneeled during the national anthem before later deciding in February to begin standing again.
Since the time Megan Rapinoe began kneeling in 2016, Lloyd expressed her opinion on the matter. She said at the time that while she supported Rapinoe, she found the situation to be distracting to the team. She felt the focus switched from the team and its performance to questions and topics about protests.
Lloyd and Rapinoe both scored two goals in the US’ 4-3 win over Australia. The bronze medal finish was a disappointing one for the team. Some feel the team’s core has just aged and it showed. Others feel that much like Lloyd said in the past, the team lacked focused due to an emphasis on political issues.
H/T OutKick
It’s been just shy of a year since Carli Lloyd’s World Cup heroics gave rise to the possibility of her kicking in the NFL, but time hasn’t dulled her desire to give it a try.
Lloyd recently told Yahoo Sports that she’s still focusing on her soccer career for the moment, but still believes she could learn the ins and outs of kicking in the NFL and was “not ruling it out.”
Lloyd’s problem may be timing. She still wants to take part in the Olympics, which have been pushed back to 2021. By that point, she’ll be 39 years old. That’s not too old to be an NFL kicker, but it’s not easy to get started at that age.
We’ve seen that Lloyd can definitely kick in a practice situation. It would be fun to see if she can pull it off during more competitive action.
U.S. women’s soccer star Carli Lloyd opened some eyes when she made a 55-yard field goal at Philadelphia Eagles camp, and suddenly, the notion of becoming an NFL kicker isn’t that far out for her.
Lloyd admitted to NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access” that she believes she could successfully kick in the NFL, and is at least considering the idea.
Lloyd added that she understands there are a lot of extra pressures involved in kicking in the NFL, but she feels she can deal with them thanks to her success on the international stage in soccer.
The 37-year-old reportedly has offers after making that kick. If she can do that consistently, she’d be a very valuable NFL asset in a league where kicking inconsistency is an unfortunate part of life for numerous teams.
The 55-yard field goal Carli Lloyd made during a visit to Philadelphia Eagles training camp last week is having a ripple effect.
Lloyd has received interest from NFL teams since making that kick. Her trainer James Galanis even told FOX Sports’ Martin Rogers on Monday that one team even offered Lloyd the opportunity to kick in a preseason game this week. Lloyd, who has played for the US Women’s National Soccer Team since 2005, could not accept the offer because of a conflict; she also has a game with the national team that day.
“Today, she got another call from another NFL team,” Galanis told Rogers. “The one that called today, I don’t want to say who it is, was willing to put her on the roster for their next (game). They were willing to put her on the roster. … She was told (she could) play on Thursday, the NFL game, but she is playing Thursday with the national team, so that was the conflict.”
The 37-year-old two-time World Cup champion received attention after the Eagles posted videos of her making field goals last week.
Lloyd said she was stunned over all the attention she received for the video, including the way it’s led to consideration of her working out for an NFL team. She told NBC Sports’ Peter King that she thinks she could kick in the NFL.
“I know that I could actually probably do it. Put on the helmet, strap on the pads, go for it. The mindset I have, I think with practice, I know I have to work on my steps and my technique, but I think I could do it and do it well. It could be a huge pivotal moment. There is no reason why a woman could not do this,” Lloyd told King.
If Lloyd actually practiced her kicking in pads and full-on football gear and became good at it, we’d love to see her in a training camp. Of course, making a kick on a practice field is one thing. How you do with an NFL rush coming at you and defensive players trying to block it is another. Can she do it in a game? There’s only one way to find out!
As for which team gave Lloyd the offer, our money is on one particular squad that’s made a spectacle of their kicking search.
Houston Texans defensive tackle Vince Wilfork is a true Renaissance man. From his immaculate sense of fashion to his clinics in interpretive dance, Wilfork is always finding new ways to bless us with his talents. This week, the five-time Pro Bowler showcased another one of his endless array of skills: field-goal kicking.
Tuesday’s latest episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” saw U.S. Women’s soccer superstar Carli Lloyd pay a visit to Texans practice. And proving once again that he backs down from no challenge, Wilfork engaged Lloyd in a field-goal kicking competition for the ages.
Now on paper, a 325-pound lineman squaring off against someone who actually does kick a ball for a living (and is one of the best in the world at that much) would seem like a mismatch on the level of Ronald Reagan vs. Walter Mondale. But Wilfork had a few tricks up his overalls, not only matching Lloyd from the 25-yard range, but also equalizing 10 yards deeper by booting it through the uprights from 35 yards. It was magical.
Quick, somebody set this to Mozart.
After Wilfork successfully dueled one of the best soccer players in the land to a draw, it looks like the Texans have found their new second-string kicker. Look out Joey “Big Toe” Julius!!
H/T theScore
Carli Lloyd captured the hearts of America by recording a hat trick in the first 16 minutes of Sunday’s World Cup Final against Japan. Lloyd’s four-goal performance helped the U.S. women to their third World Cup title and led to her getting a host of awards, so many she needed help from her teammates to carry them all.
While Lloyd’s day is the stuff dreams (and legends) are made of, it was something she had a feeling would happen. A couple of months ago, during a training session, the 32-year-old had a vision of sorts. In it, Lloyd saw herself having just the success in the World Cup Final that ended up becoming reality.
“It’s kind of funny,” Lloyd said Sunday night, via USA Today. “I’m running and I’m doing sprints and it’s hard, it’s burning, and I just completely zoned out. I dreamed of and visualized playing in the World Cup final and visualized scoring four goals.
So, not only is Lloyd really good at soccer, she’s a bit of a prophet too. If she saw the goals coming in the fashion they did, hats of to her because I’m pretty sure no one else did. Lloyd became the first to score a hat trick in a Women’s World Cup Final and her first goal (scored in the third minute) was the fastest in a Women’s World Cup Final.
Needless to say, it was quite the day for Carli Lloyd, who was named President of the United States on Wikipedia and also received a shoutout from the real POTUS.
H/T For The Win
Carli Lloyd had such an incredible World Cup that she needed the help of her teammates to carry all her awards at the airport.
Goalkeeper Hope Solo, who only allowed three goals in the entire tournament, tweeted out this great image of her and Alyssa Naeher holding all of Lloyd’s goodies:
Lloyd won the Golden Ball as the MVP of the event. It looks like she picked up multiple trophies as well as framed photos and posters at the World Cup.
She’ll have plenty of good stuff to fill her trophy room with in the near future. We also expect to see her all over the place in commercials. With that hat trick in the final against Japan, she certainly earned those endorsement dollars.
If you watched the Women’s World Cup final on FOX Sunday night like most of us, you missed out on some of the most intense commentary in the history of women’s soccer. That was provided by none other than Andres Cantor.
Cantor, who is the play-by-play man for Telemundo, went absolutely insane when Carli Lloyd scored her third goal in the 16th minute to give the U.S. a 4-0 lead over Japan. As Timothy Burke of Deadspin noted, Cantor shouted “GOOOOOOOOOOOOL!” for 38 seconds with just two short breaks for air.
The goal was worth every bit of Cantor’s wind, as Lloyd gave us one of the best performances in World Cup history — men or women. You can watch all three of her goals here.
Remind me to tune into Telemundo the next time we see a hat trick.
H/T Sports Illustrated
Carli Lloyd is now an American hero after putting together probably the best game ever by an American soccer player representing his/her country.
Lloyd scored three goals, giving her six total for the event, in the US’ 5-2 win over Japan in the finals of the Women’s World Cup. Her heroics and stellar play during the game and throughout the tournament led to someone editing her Wikipedia page to list her position as “President of the United States.”
The Wikipedia update was omniscient, as the actual president of the United States ended up shouting her out over Twitter:
Here I was thinking the incredible social media treatment Tim Howard received was awesome, not to mention the Wikipedia update he received during the World Cup. Lloyd is deserving of even more attention and accolades.
Carli Lloyd proved on Sunday that not only is she a stud on the soccer field, but she is also a class act.
Late in the second half of the US’ game against Japan in the Women’s World Cup final, coach Jill Ellis decided to put Abby Wambach into the contest so she could be on the field as she won her first World Cup.
Upon entering the game, Lloyd decided to take off the captain’s armband and put it on Wambach, who is the career goals leader for the national team.
Wambach, 35, has won a national championship in college, two Olympic gold medals, FIFA World Player of the Year, but until Sunday she had never won the World Cup. That all changed thanks to an overwhelming 5-2 victory, and Lloyd ensured it was a special one.
The gesture was extremely well received on social media:
Image via @_MarcusD_
