As the Women’s World Cup continues through to the quarterfinals and semifinals, the USWNT is left to ponder what went wrong. Carli Lloyd, the former USWNT midfielder and current Fox Sports analyst, believes she knows where the program has gone awry.
On a Fox broadcast, Lloyd explained that the issues with the U.S. soccer program comes from a lack of development at the youth level.
“This is a humble moment for the program—for the players, for the coaching staff—and it’s a wake-up call for the entire program,” Lloyd said. “It’s easy to turn a blind eye when the senior team is winning. … We are failing at the U-17 level, we are failing at the U-20 level.”
Carli Lloyd on the #USWNT's early exit:
— Jennifer X. Williams (@JenXperience) August 11, 2023
"This is a humble moment for the program—for the players, for the coaching staff—and it's a wake-up call for the entire program." #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/berjSU5WKL
Lloyd points out that the U.S. hasn’t won a U-20 Women’s World Cup since 2012, which includes four straight tournaments in which it hasn’t come out on top. In fact, the highest that the U.S. U-20 Women’s team finished since the 2012 World Cup was one fourth place finish in 2016.
Throughout the World Cup, Lloyd has been very critical of the team, specifically coach Vlatko Andonovski. She also criticized the team’s attitude after playing to draw to clinch a spot in the knockout rounds, something she walked back a day later.
Nonetheless, Lloyd broadcasted the World Cup this year after playing in three tournaments from 2011 to ’19 and now she has no problem publicizing her opinions on the issues within the program.
