{"id":1311445,"date":"2019-06-15T13:08:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-15T19:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/lloyd-adjusts-to-new-role-but-doesnt-accept-it\/"},"modified":"2019-06-15T13:08:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-15T19:08:00","slug":"lloyd-adjusts-to-new-role-but-doesnt-accept-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/lloyd-adjusts-to-new-role-but-doesnt-accept-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Lloyd adjusts to new role, but doesn\u2019t accept it"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
United States’ coach Jill Ellis gestures as she talks to her player Carli Lloyd during the Women’s World Cup Group F soccer match between the United States and Thailand at the Stade Auguste-Delaune in Reims, France, Tuesday, June 11, 2019. (AP Photo\/Francois Mori)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

PARIS \u2014 Carli Lloyd is not accepting her new role. Not at all.<\/p>\n

Lloyd was the star of the 2015 Women\u2019s World Cup four years ago in Canada, scoring three goals in the first 16 minutes of the final to help the U.S. national team win its third World Cup title.<\/p>\n

The hat trick earned Lloyd the nickname \u201cCaptain America\u201d and made her one of women\u2019s soccer most recognizable athletes. She was voted FIFA Women\u2019s Player of the Year, NFL quarterback Marcus Mariota teed up a football for her in a Nike commercial and she wrote a successful book.<\/p>\n

Now 36, Lloyd is a role player, likely a second-half substitute in most matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was satisfied, I really shouldn\u2019t be here. That\u2019s just not who I am as a person or a player,\u201d she said. \u201cI know that if called upon and needing to play 90 minutes, I can do it. There\u2019s nothing there that\u2019s holding me back except for the coach\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say that Lloyd is a malcontent. Quite the opposite.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t sat here and pouted around and been a horrible teammate,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve showed up every single day at training and been the hardest working player I could possibly be, and been respectful of that decision. When my chances have come I\u2019ve tried to seize those and take those opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lloyd finds herself in much the same position that Abby Wambach was in Canada. Heading to a record 184 international goals, she came off the bench during the 2015 World Cup for the first time since 2003. Wambach, who retired later that year, handled her situation much differently than Lloyd.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe World Cup for us, for our sport, is the biggest title you can win as a team,\u201d Wambach said at the time. \u201cI\u2019ve never had the opportunity to win one. I\u2019ve come close. That\u2019s obviously a dream of mine to be able raise that trophy for my country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Jill Ellis said she loves that Lloyd wants to start and be a difference-maker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve said this, whether Carli comes off the bench or starts the game, she is a game-changer. What I know is that Carli will always put the team first,\u201d Ellis said.<\/p>\n

Lloyd was benched before the 2012 London Olympics by then-coach Pia Sundhage, who liked the combination of Shannon Boxx and Lauren Holiday. The demotion didn\u2019t last long, however, because Boxx was injured in the opener.<\/p>\n

Lloyd went on to score both goals in the gold-medal match against Japan at Wembley Stadium. She became the only player to score winning goals in consecutive Olympic finals: At the Beijing Games in 2008, she scored in overtime for a 1-0 victory against Brazil.<\/p>\n

But she turns 37 next month and is the oldest player on the team.<\/p>\n

In Tuesday\u2019s opening 13-0 rout of Thailand, Lloyd entered in the 57th minute and scored in stoppage time. She became the oldest American woman to score at a World Cup and joined Germany\u2019s Birgit Prinz as the only players to score in five straight World Cup games.<\/p>\n

In the wake of Tuesday\u2019s victory, the American players faced criticism for celebrating the late goals in a blowout. The United States plays its second group match on Sunday against Chile in Paris.<\/p>\n

Ellis said the opening night was about celebrating individual achievement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I was the most excited on the last goal we scored, because that was Carli Lloyd. And I know all the history and all the background of that player to get to that moment, and what that meant,\u201d Ellis said on the eve of Sunday\u2019s game. \u201cSo I think that\u2019s important to put that human element in this as well. It might seem a score line to you, but it\u2019s also years and years of work. \u2026 I didn\u2019t know the score, I wasn\u2019t celebrating the goal. I was celebrating Carli.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lloyd also is among the U.S. players hoping to make a difference for the next generation. The national team has long championed equal rights, and players collectively filed a lawsuit earlier this year that alleges discrimination by the U.S. Soccer Federation and are seeking pay equitable with that of the men\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n

For now, however, the focus is winning a fourth title.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to do anything I can to help the team, and that hasn\u2019t really changed from when I first got to the team in 2005,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m the same player, trucking along, just wanting to be better and better every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United States’ coach Jill Ellis gestures as she talks to her player Carli Lloyd during the Women’s World Cup Group F soccer match between the United States and Thailand at the Stade Auguste-Delaune in Reims, France, Tuesday, June 11, 2019. (AP Photo\/Francois Mori)AP | AP PARIS \u2014 Carli Lloyd is not accepting her new role. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1311445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-19 03:42:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1311445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1311445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1311445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1311445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}