After being one of the first to lead the charge of criticism against USMNT winger Christian Pulisic, two-time World Cup winner Carli Lloyd is not backing down.
Lloyd was critical of Pulisic nearly immediately after the United States was eliminated in ignominious fashion at the hands of Belgium in Seattle.
Pulisic in particular was criticized for his poor performances throughout the tournament as the forward went out with a whimper against the Belgians. He turned the ball over eleven times before being taken off and suffering a bone bruise and a microfracture in his lower leg, according to US Soccer.
Pulisic’s post-match reaction mere moments after one of the most embarrassing losses in the history of the national team has drawn ire from fans when he said he’ll have ‘time to rest’ and recover from his injury.
Lloyd instantly jumped on that, saying, ‘You rest when your playing career is over. Period.’
Such a sentiment makes sense coming from Lloyd, who made her entire livelihood by trying to out-work and out-hustle every person in the sport. So when a fan told her that she needed to apologize after she ‘went overboard,’ Lloyd strongly disagreed.
Two-time World Cup winner Carli Lloyd doubled down on her criticism of Christian Pulisic
Pulisic played poorly at the World Cup and was further criticized for his post-match reaction
Lloyd said that the United States looked like ‘men against boys’ in the match against Belgium
‘I don’t owe anyone an apology,’ Lloyd posted to X. ‘My comment wasn’t about his post-game interview. He skipped Gold Cup last summer because he wanted to rest and be ready for WC. He ended up resting the whole year. That’s the facts. Nothing personal against him.’
Pulisic did not look the part of being the star for the United States throughout this World Cup after entering the tournament on poor form in the back half of his club season with AC Milan.
Despite breaking a goal drought for his country in a friendly against Senegal, Pulisic managed a single assist in the World Cup. He played just 45 minutes against Paraguay before suffering an injury.
After missing the game against Australia, he came on in the second half of the 3-2 group stage defeat to Turkey.
He made little to no impact in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 before his horrible showing against Belgium. It put an end to what had been heralded as America’s best chance to prove its worth on the pitch.
‘It’s been tough because this group was supposed to be the one. Call them the golden generation or whatever you want,’ Lloyd told The Athletic, ‘But if there was ever a World Cup where the U.S. men were going to break through, it was this one.’
She added, ‘It was almost like men against boys. Everything felt off. I said on air that it looked like they had lost the game before they even stepped onto the field.
‘They lacked confidence. They were tentative and timid, things you can control. That’s what made the loss so hard to watch. It finished 4-1, but it easily could have been six or seven. For former players and people who’ve been part of the program, it’s especially difficult because the expectations for this team were so high.’
