An intense dedication to her craft helped make former U.S. women’s national soccer team star Carli Lloyd a Hall of Famer.
But at her induction speech on Sunday, the two-time World Cup champion also acknowledged the price she paid on a personal level as she single-mindedly pursued her goals.
‘I’m sorry I wasn’t always able to give you all of me,’ Lloyd said, addressing her former teammates. ‘I wouldn’t say I have regrets, but if there’s one thing I do wish, I wish I had let more people understand me over the years. I operated like an emotionless machine. I was intense and I truly believe that the only way for me to survive in such a cut-throat environment was to be that way.’
Lloyd, who retired in 2021 after making 316 appearances for the USWNT, was one of five people inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in Sunday’s ceremony in Frisco, Texas.
Her credentials were impeccable. In addition to being a major part of two World Cup championship teams, she scored the winning goals in the gold-medal game in both the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Games in London. Lloyd was also a two-time FIFA player of the year – only the second American (along with Mia Hamm) to win the international award multiple times.
But Lloyd’s steely intensity ran counter to some of the other free spirits on those teams such as Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan.
She admitted that retiring as an active player – and also becoming a mother – have given her a new perspective.
‘I always knew I wanted a child, but I had no idea how this little baby could completely change me as a person,’ Lloyd said. ‘Unlike during my playing career, I have been present. I have allowed myself to be vulnerable, emotional, and fully engaged in every moment I get to spend with her.’
In the end though, Lloyd concluded that all the training, even to the extent that it cut her off from teammates and family members, was worth it.
‘As lonely and difficult as the journey was at times, I would do it all over again,’ she said. ‘There was nothing I loved more than winning, but winning comes at a cost, and I paid that price.’