Carli Lloyd Megan RapinoeGetty

'I would raise hell' - Carli Lloyd hits outs at behaviour of USWNT players and says team has lost its 'champion mentality'

  • USWNT crash out of World Cup
  • Lloyd slams players after exit
  • Continues rant months later

WHAT HAPPENED? The 41-year-old has claimed she "would raise hell" if she saw the current antics of the squad and was still playing, after previously criticising the team during the disastrous showing at the 2023 Women's World Cup.

WHAT THEY SAID: “The champion mentality that we’ve had throughout the years, since the inception of this team, that dog mentality, you’ve got none of that,” Lloyd said on CBS Sport.

“The character, the respect — technically, tactically, you could be great and have a coach that comes in, but if you don’t have all those other things, there’s no winning."

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Speaking about pre-match clothing choices and body language during the World Cup, Lloyd added: “If I saw that, if I was a part of that team, I would raise hell and I would go directly to the players and tell them to take their sunglasses off and stop dancing."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The team crashed out of the World Cup in the round of 16 this summer, after losing to Sweden on penalties following a 0-0 stalemate following 120-minutes of action.

Earlier in the tournament, following a 0-0 draw with Portugal which guaranteed progression through the group stage, former star Megan Rapinoe could be seen dancing on the pitch after the game while smiling. With Lloyd claiming she had "never witnessed something like that" at the time.

The tournament marked a historic occasion for the USWNT for all the wrong reasons, as they failed to make the top three of the World Cup for the first time in their history.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

USWNT Sweden WWC 2023GettyCarli Lloyd

WHAT NEXT FOR USWNT? The squad will get a chance to prove Lloyd wrong at the end of the month, as they prepare for two international friendlies against Columbia.

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