Carli Lloyd had quite the year before adding another international award to her name. Early in 2016, Lloyd released her autobiography When Nobody Was Watching: My Hard-Fought Journey To The Top Of The Soccer World. It was a book that reflected on her family falling-out as well as the struggles and sacrifices she encountered as she rose to the top.
2016 was also the year Lloyd tied the knot with longtime boyfriend Brian Hollins. Between her book release, her book tour and planning a wedding, Lloyd still found time to train and finish her soccer season on a high note. In 2016, Lloyd scored 17 goals and had 11 assists in 21 games with the USWNT. With a total of 96 goals to her name, she needs only four more goals to become the sixth player to score 100 or more international goals.
Lloyd recently traveled to Switzerland for FIFA’s annual awards, where she won Women’s Player of the Year. She beat out Brazil’s Marta and Germany’s Melanie Behringer. Lloyd was surprised to win the award for the second year in a row after getting injured and eliminated in the Rio Olympics.
Gal gone glam
A night to remember for @CarliLloyd in Switzerland.https://t.co/0g4Kde3pWR. (FIFA/Getty Images).
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) January 10, 2017
Even though she began her speech with, "I honestly wasn't expecting this" she later told FIFA:
“It's such a tremendous honour to have been named player of the year last year and again this year. It feels the same. It is humbling. You work incredibly hard each and every day. But this award is not derailing me. I want to keep getting better. There are so many things that I can work and improve on. I just want to go out there and help my team win, and I want to be the best that I can be. That is my next goal.”
Now that 2017 has arrived, Lloyd is back in the soccer mindset. She is practicing with the USWNT at their annual training camp in Southern California. Coach Jill Ellis brought in a total of 35 players for the first camp of the year. The USWNT will compete in the SheBelieves Cup, which will be their major competition in 2017.
Lloyd expressed her excitement for the upcoming season and revealed she will be coming back stronger and better than ever.
“I want to become a better leader. I want to help my team in any way possible and I want to keep improving,” she said. “Even though it is a bit of an off year, I look at it as a year of a lot of opportunities. My job is to improve on a daily basis and continue to get better and before you know it, we’ll be in 2019 World Cup mode.”
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