Carli Lloyd Writing Her Own Legacy as USWNT Moves into Women's World Cup Final
Before the current Women's World Cup even started, Carli Lloyd's place in American soccer history was already secure. A 10-year veteran of the United States national team, the 32-year-old midfielder was best known as a big-game player who scored the winning goals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold-medal matches.
Big Game Carli turned up again Tuesday night, scoring the winner and setting up the other goal as the U.S. defeated top-ranked Germany in the World Cup semifinals. But after this latest star turn, Lloyd is on the verge of something else entirely. By scoring in three straight knockout games and guiding the Americans back to the World Cup final, she is staking her claim to legendary status.
Lloyd won't ever score as many goals as Abby Wambach, her longtime teammate, nor will she cross over into the mainstream to be the star that Mia Hamm became in 1999. But her habit of producing the goods in big games has earned her recognition as a clutch player.
That habit delivered Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012, but the World Cup represents something else entirely. The World Cup is the most important tournament in international soccer, and Lloyd's heroics have put the U.S. within one more win of an unprecedented third title.
Not that she has done it alone. Megan Rapinoe and Hope Solo starred in the opener. Meghan Klingenberg made the game-saving clearance against Sweden. Even Lloyd's individual success in the past two games was a direct result of the addition of Morgan Brian to the U.S. midfield. But once Brian arrived and freed Lloyd to be Lloyd, the results have been impressive.
Against a stubborn China side in the quarterfinals, Lloyd scored the game's only goal with a beautifully taken header. Against Germany, the best team the U.S. had faced so far, Lloyd raised her game accordingly.
In the 69th minute, nine minutes after Germany's Celia Sasic had missed a penalty, Lloyd put the Americans ahead with a perfectly struck spot-kick of her own. Fifteen minutes later, with a dash to the end line and a flick of the boot, she set up Kelley O'Hara for her side's second.
Writing for Sports Illustrated, Grant Wahl noted:
"Lloyd took her second perfect penalty of the tournament on Tuesday, showing the poise that Sasic didn't, and Lloyd's remarkable run and pass in the box that created O'Hara's goal was a thing of beauty. Those moments don't just happen.
That poise comes from thousands of hours of work in a New Jersey gym when you're alone and nobody else is watching. And they're paying off in a trip for the U.S. to another World Cup final.
"
Simply put, Lloyd made the difference. Other factors came into play, of course. U.S. coach Jill Ellis kept Brian in the starting lineup and gambled by switching to a 4-3-3 in order to coax the best out of her team, and then the Americans benefited from a pair of poor refereeing decisions.
But those were only elements of the larger picture, and Lloyd's contributions were the final, brilliant brushstrokes on a masterful U.S. performance.
"I don't just want to be a participant in the World Cup," Lloyd told the New York Times last week. "I want to have a legacy. I want to have people remember me."
With one match to go, that legacy is nearly secure. In Sunday's final, Lloyd will have the chance to become a legend in real time.
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