Never doubt Carli Lloyd.
Before the 2015 World Cup, Lloyd’s former coach and the coach of World Cup rival Sweden, Pia Sundhage, said that Lloyd was a great player, but was mentally weak.
“Carli Lloyd was a challenge to coach, by the way. When she felt that we had faith in her, she could be one of the best players. But if she began to question that faith, she could be one of the worst.”
“It was so delicate, so, so delicate.”
Sweden coach Pia Sundhage. Photo: @DN_Sport | Twitter
It was a clear stab at the midfielder, one of many Sundhage directed at the USWNT during an interview with the New York Times published before the World Cup.
While it can’t be proven that Sundhage made the comment to hurt Lloyd and give Sweden a psychological advantage, it should be noted that Sweden was in the same group as Lloyd’s United States at the 2015 World Cup; they were guaranteed to play each other.
But if Sundhage did intent to hinder Lloyd, then we can be sure that her words did not have the desired effect. Lloyd went on the have the World Cup of all World Cups, scoring 6 goals in 7 games and showing Japan in the final that this is Carli Lloyd’s world, and we’re just all here to watch:
After what she did to Japan, Lloyd took her play to the NWSL. The league wasn’t ready.
Lloyd would score in each of her first three games back with her club, the Houston Dash. Those goals included two game winners: a looping header vs the New York Flash, and this 87th minute rocket to break the 2-2 deadlock between the Dash and FC Kansas City:
The Dash won that game 3-2 because of Lloyd's rocket, and finished the month of July unbeaten since Lloyd's return.
Lloyd would go on to win the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award for 2015. She won it primarily for her efforts at the World Cup (the Dash would fail to make the NWSL playoffs) but her play in the NWSL during the month of July cemented her status as the best in the world, and her goal against FCKC was the exclamation point.
Let this be a lesson to you and all of her opponents. Don’t doubt Carly Lloyd, she just might become the best player in the world because of it.
Follow me on Twitter: @yetly
