Carli Lloyd Responds to Critics
The latest in our series of middle of the night interviews from China comes from Carli Lloyd.
Give us the low down on the tournament, starting with the rocky start against Norway through the semi-final win against Japan.
It’s been a very, very interesting year, especially losing some key players earlier in the year, Cat and Leslie, and then Abby. Our first game against Norway was our first without her. We didn’t know how it was going to be. We’d never played without her. We had to figure some things out.
I think it was actually a perfect start for us, going down two nothing and we just kept fighting, kept fighting and we’ve been getting better each minute we’re playing. We’re playing some great soccer and it’s awesome.
Compare this experience to your first big event with the full team, the 2007 Women’s World Cup.
You always have in your head, how you think things are going to turn out and that’s not necessarily how they end up turning out. Unfortunately it was a disappointing event for the team. For me personally, I started the first three games and didn’t the last three games, so it was tough. It was tough for everybody else, the way things ended.
This year, what Pia’s done with this team is indescribable. She’s brought us together. I’ve never felt as close to the team as I have this year.
What do you think about the match up with Brazil? Are you ready?
I think we are. We’re playing some great soccer. A lot of the media and people are doubting us, but that’s okay. We’re enjoying being the underdog this year. People should really watch closely. We don’t have one superstar on our team. We’re all getting our job done, even people on the bench. We’re finally turning over a new leaf and playing really quality football and that’s exciting. I think if we just worry about ourselves and don’t get caught up in “Oh, we’re playing Brazil,” then we’ll be all right.
Does the negative press bug you?
There are always going to people who say you were lucky even when you beat a team four to one, but that’s just life and it happens everywhere. It really fired some of us up like reading some of the quotes from Japan prior to the game. I think it really fired a lot of people up.
What has it been like hanging out in the Olympic Village?
It’s been unbelievable. This is my first Olympics. It’s all that you can imagine. We haven’t really gone to any events. We were focusing on the match yesterday, but today I’m just going to get out and experience it a little bit. It’s just so cool. It’s really hard to explain, but there are just tons of athletes, there’s a huge cafeteria, apartments… It’s just really, really cool.
Have you met anyone that you were really excited to meet?
Ronaldinho. I wanted to meet Messi, but that didn’t work, out. I got to meet James Blake and one of the gymnasts, Shawn Johnson. It’s been cool.
Photo by Brad Smith/isiphotos.com
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