Legend Carli Lloyd says goodbye to soccer
HARRISON, N.J. (BVM) — Carli Lloyd is turning the page to the next stage of life as she says goodbye to professional soccer.
Lloyd, a professional soccer player for the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) and NY/NJ Gotham FC in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), announced her retirement on Aug. 16.
She will play her last four matches with the USWNT this fall and finish out the NWSL season with NY/NJ Gotham FC before she leaves the pitch for good.
The New Jersey native started her professional career when she debuted for the national team in 2005 at the age of 23. In her 17-year career with the USWNT and her various club teams, she has earned a myriad of awards and broken plenty of records.
In 2008, Lloyd was named Player of the Year for her performance in the 2008 Olympics. She scored the game-winner in overtime against Brazil to earn her team and country their third Olympic gold medal.
Lloyd earned her second Olympic gold medal in the 2012 Olympics after scoring both goals in the 2-1 victory over Japan. She also earned a spot in the Bleacher Report Top 100 athletes that year.
In 2015, Lloyd, at 35 years old, became the first player in a FIFA Women’s World Cup to score a hat trick in the final against Japan. Her performance in the 2015 World Cup final earned her the titles of U.S. Soccer Player of the Year, FIFA World Player of the Year and a spot on the FIFA Women’s World Cup All-Star team. Her goal from half field earned FIFA Women’s World Cup Goal of the Tournament.
She earned FIFA’s World Player of the Year again in 2016. Shortly after, she was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame and won the FA Cup with Manchester City in 2017.
At 39 years young, Lloyd became the oldest player to go to the Tokyo Olympics. At the conclusion of the bronze medal match in Tokyo, Lloyd played in 22 Olympic matches and 25 World Cup matches, more than any player in USWNT history.
A four-time Olympian, Lloyd has scored 10 Olympic goals, making her the all-time leading scorer in USWNT history.
Lloyd has done all of this and more in 313 caps for the USWNT, second only to Kristine Lily. In those caps, Lloyd scored 133 goals and gathered 64 assists, third and sixth all-time in USWNT history, respectively. She also has nine hat tricks, the most all-time in USWNT history.
However, it hasn’t always been easy for the USWNT superstar. Before her professional career even started, Lloyd was cut from the Under 21 Women’s National Team. She saw this as a wake-up call and committed herself to make the national team. She sacrificed everything, including personal relationships to get where she is today. At the end of every game, fans see her running across the field, grinding it out even after playing a match.
She continues to train just as hard as she nears the end of her career, and the results are showing.
On Sept. 16, the USWNT played Paraguay in Cleveland. The Americans destroyed their opponent, cruising to a 9-0 win in Lloyd’s first of four farewell matches.
Lloyd scored five of those nine goals. Two of them came within the first six minutes of the game. Fans speculated that Lloyd may change her mind and play for two more years instead of retiring.
Lloyd has just two matches left to play with the national team after facing Paraguay again on Tuesday, both coming against Korea on Oct. 21 and 26.
Lloyd will finish her professional soccer career with her home club NY/NJ Gotham FC as they close out the 2021 NWSL season.
