Carli Lloyd Announces Her Retirement From Women's Soccer

It's the end of an era for women's soccer and the US WNT in particular. Carli Lloyd may not have been the most vocal of the members of the national team, that was Megan Rapinoe. She may never have been the most famous member, that distinction could've gone to Alex Morgan. However, there is certainly an argument to be made that Lloyd is the most successful women's soccer player of all time. Having been a part of the US National Team since 2005. In her career, she's been a part of 2 World Cup-winning rosters. As well as 2 Olympic golds to go with the Bronze medal the team recently brought home.

Carli Lloyd has announced her retirement however, it isn't effective immediately. Taking a page out of Governor Cuomo's book, are we? The 39 year old plans to finish out the season with her team, the NJ/NY Gotham FC, in the US Women's pro league. She's also planning on taking part in 4 friendly games that the US Women's national team has scheduled for the remainder of the year. When all of this is over, she's going to hang up the cleats. With the announcement, there's certainly anticipation that she'll get a warm farewell tour!

Of course, Lloyd didn't just send out a memo to the media saying that she's planning on retiring. She put out a very emotional statement in which, she talked about her years starting out on the national team. She's pretty much the last of the Golden generation that included the likes of Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, and other former greats. In the statement she mentioned,

"Every single day I stepped out onto the field, I played as if it was my last game. I never wanted to take anything for granted, especially knowing how hard it is to get to the top, but even harder to stay at the top for so long."

https://twitter.com/USWNT/status/1427284013006278660

The US Women's national team has been locked in court battles with the US soccer federation over contract disputes for years now. The team members alleged that they were getting less money than the men's team. Courts have disagreed with them on this issue, though, multiple times. Lloyd though decided that her retirement announcement was a perfect opportunity to make amends with her bosses despite the frosty relationship. In the statement she mentioned,

"I would like to thank U.S. Soccer for helping to provide the opportunities and memories that will last a lifetime. I am forever grateful to have represented the crest and to be able to play for my country for the last 17 years,"

https://twitter.com/USWNT/status/1427325342197428228

Lloyd's retirement comes at a difficult time for US Women's soccer. The team took a couple of steps back and hasn't been able to remain as dominant as it was in years past. That may be due to the fact that key players like Lloyd are getting near their 40th birthdays. As we mentioned, the relationship between most of the players and US Soccer isn't ideal, to say the least. Moving forward, the team is going to need to find a way to replace players like Lloyd as they ride off into the sunset. While ideally being able to fix the multiple labor disputes that they are currently facing.