“The player of the match was that post” – Carli LLoyd called out USWNT for celebrating draw against Portugal at Women’s FIFA World cup.
“To be dancing? To be smiling? The player of the match was that post.”
It was a match with very little positivity from the defending champions and Portugal even hit the post in injury-time, which prevented a goal that would have eliminated America from the tournament.
Given the team has performed in such an underwhelming manner, it was therefore a surprise to see the players dancing after the final whistle, with Carli Lloyd taking particular offense.
“I have never witnessed something like that,” Lloyd explained as part of her punditry duties with Fox Sports.
“The one thing I want to say is that this team wanted to win this game more than anything else,” Andonovski said. “They’ve put everything they could in preparation for this tournament and every game that they go into, so to question the mentality of this team, to question the willingness to win, to compete, I think it’s insane.
“I’ve never seen this team step on the field and not try hard or not compete. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, they can say whatever they want, but I just know how this team feels.
“It’s not like we played well by any means. We owned it. We know it’s not good enough. We’re not happy with our performance, but we qualified for the next round. We’re moving on.”
The U.S. won only one game in group play for the first time in tournament history, and scored just four goals over the three games.
The result was a disappointment for the No. 1-ranked U.S. team, the overwhelming favorite to beat No. 21-ranked Portugal, after having won the previous two Women’s World Cups.
America, despite the poor display, can now start to focus on the knockout phase of the tournament, of which they will be a part.
However, Lloyd believes the team’s attitude has shifted a lot since she retired and she holds genuine worry for the team in the coming rounds.
“It started to shit post-2020 and there are a lot of off-the-field things that are happening,” she continued.
The path for the Americans also hinged on the results of the Netherlands match against Vietnam, played simultaneously in Dunedin. With a decisive 7-0 victory, the Netherlands won Group E, bumping the United States to second place.
Now the USWNT heads to a round-of-16 matchup against Sweden.
Asked about Lloyd’s postgame remarks that the U.S. lacked “passion,” Andonovski said it didn’t match what he saw.
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