U.S. legend Carli Lloyd’s ends stellar career
The two-time World Cup winner and double Olympic medallist walked off a football pitch for the final time after her Gotham FC were edged out by Red Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League quarter-finals.
Football
The full-time whistle has sounded on Carli Lloyd's amazing football career, following her NJ/NY Gotham FC’s 1-0 defeat to Chicago Red Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) quarter-finals on Sunday (10 November).
Mallory Pugh’s 61st-minute goal proved to be the difference between the sides in Chicago.
The Red Stars move on to face the top-seeded Portland Thorns in the semi-finals next Sunday (14 November).
"For me, [it's] bittersweet obviously, I would have liked to have kept going," an emotional Lloyd said afterwards. "We played really well today, we really turned this club around and I'm very excited to see the future of this club.”
The two-time World Cup winner announced her retirement from international football earlier this month as the second most-capped player in the world with 316 caps.
During that time Lloyd accumulated an astonishing 134 international goals, and took part in four Olympic Games - winning two golds and a bronze.
In the NWSL, she scored 35 goals and 11 assists in more than 8,000 minutes of action, and in 2017 scored a memorable goal to help English side Manchester City win the FA Cup.
The two-time FIFA Player of the Year also revealed that she plans to stay involved in the sport.
"Although I won't be on the field ever again, I'm going to help this game grow," the 39-year-old said.