The U.S. women’s national soccer team has been second to none in excellence on the international scene. They have won four of the eight women’s World Cup titles (including the most recent two), and have made the podium in six of the seven Olympic tournaments. But even though their trophy case is loaded, two of the stars most responsible for their unprecedented level of success said the team lacked a healthy culture.
Carli Lloyd, one of the of the most decorated and accomplished women’s soccer players of all time, said that the culture was the worst she had seen in her 17 years of being on the international team.
Lloyd spilled some of the details on a podcast with her former teammate, goalie Hope Solo, who also was less than impressed with the team’s atmosphere before she stopped playing in 2016:
Here’s some of what you can expect on the first episode of Hope Solo Speaks with my first guest, the one and only @CarliLloyd 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/k9EjKMHrxf
— Hope Solo (@hopesolo) February 28, 2022
Most of the toxicity can be attributed to the actions and antics of Megan Rapinoe, the purple-headed LGBT activist whose woke publicity stunts are on par or more disgusting than anything the NBA and the NFL have done. According to Solo, she wanted all of her teammates to be as sold out for the woke agenda as her, and would bully potential “dissenters'' into doing what she wanted (especially when it came to kneeling for the national anthem).
“I think the kneeling thing can be very divisive. I’ve seen Megan Rapinoe almost bully players into kneeling because she really wants to stand up for something in her particular way,” Solo said on Goal’s “All of Us: The U.S. Women’s Soccer Show” when discussing Rapinoe and the national anthem protest."
Frankly, the fact that Rapinoe was seen as an entitled bully by her teammates comes as no shock. After winning the 2019 World Cup, she was videoed saying “I deserve this,” while holding the trophy in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other during the championship parade.
.@mPinoe holding a trophy and a bottle of champagne and yelling “I DESERVE THIS” is a mood, an inspiration, a battle cry for women nationwide pic.twitter.com/1r9YUDNBxD
— Emmy Bengtson (@EmmyA2) July 10, 2019
This, and her apparent intimidation of her teammates, is the behavior of a cynical narcissist that thinks everyone and everything exists to please her. Even if Solo did not say her peace, her actions on and off the field provide plenty of evidence to support that claim.
Fortunately, Lloyd did not always cave to Rapinoe’s intimidation. Before an international friendly against Colombia on MLK Day in 2021, the striker stood with 3 other teammates for the national anthem, while the seven other starters for the match chose to kneel. Lloyd predictably received a hefty amount of backlash, but she made no apology for her actions (nor should she have).
It comes as no shock that these reports from former players are coming out. Anyone who even casually watched games or followed the news surrounding them could tell that they were a hot mess on the outside, which obviously was indicative of the toxic culture bubbling beneath the surface.
