Do not expect any sympathy from former U.S. Women’s National Team star Carli Lloyd, even if you broke your leg.
Mere minutes after Christian Pulisic and the U.S. Men’s National Team were unceremoniously dissed and dismissed from the World Cup, Lloyd dished out harsh criticism of Team USA captain Christian Pulisic for having virtually no effect on the game.
“I gotta be honest, I was a bit disappointed with Christian Pulisic,” Lloyd said after the Round of 16 loss. “I think whether he wants to be the star of this team or not, we didn’t see enough from him in this particular game, and really, the whole World Cup. Little glimpses here and there.”
“It’s a bit of a downer for us being out here now after this loss, but I felt like they (USMNT’s big-time players like Pulisic) lost the game before they even stepped onto the pitch,” Lloyd added. “I’m not sure why, and I don’t know the reasons, but just from the beginning, just chasing, tentative, scared, just not confident on the ball.”
“And I think big-time players — you wanted some of those big-time players to step up in big moments.”
Lloyd fired another broadside at the embattled American captain after his post-game comments, in which he said that, now that the tournament was over, he would have time to rest his injured ankle.
“You rest when your playing career is over. Period.”
On Wednesday, it was learned that Pulisic suffered a bone bruise and microfracture in his leg. Some fans thought that knowledge earned Pulisic an apology from Lloyd, but she didn’t see it that way.
“I don’t owe anyone an apology,” Lloyd said on X.
“My comment wasn’t about his post-game interview. He skipped Gold Cup last summer because he wanted to rest and be ready for WC. He ended up resting the whole year. That’s the facts. Nothing personal against him.”
Pulisic showed flashes of greatness in the first half of the first Group Stage game against Paraguay but then took a kick to the calf and missed the next game and a half. He returned in the second half of Team USA’s loss to Turkey but did not score. Nor did he score in the Americans’ Round of 32 victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The American captain had a bad game against Belgium, like the rest of the team, before being removed late with what turned out to be a broken leg.