During its World Cup coverage, Fox Sports leaned in to its new marquee hires in Zlatan Ibrahimović and Thierry Henry. But it was the unsung analyst, Carli Lloyd, who excelled on TV after Team USA’s devastating 4–1 loss to Belgium on Monday night.
After Team USA crumbled during the round-of-16 match, Lloyd didn’t pull any punches. The women’s soccer legend was blunt, unsparing, and incisive in her commentary. As a player who won two FIFA Women’s World Cups in 2015 and 2019, Lloyd knows what it takes to thrive on the big stage. Even if it hurt the precious feelings of the U.S. men’s national team, Lloyd said they played “scared” when it mattered most.
“It’s a bit of a downer for us being out here now after this loss. But I felt like they lost the game before they even stepped out onto the pitch,” Lloyd said. “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.”
You can’t win the World Cup if your stars don’t show up. Lloyd called out Team USA striker Christian Pulisic for coming up small at the biggest moment of his career.
