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. Their trophy collection is impressive, but two stars who are most responsible for the unprecedented success of their team said that the culture was lacking.
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
Megan Rapinoe is the purple-headed LGBT activist. Her woke publicity stunts, which are either more or less disgusting than any the NFL and NBA have ever done, account for most of the toxic effects. 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.”
Rapinoe being regarded as a bully and entitled by her team-mates is no surprise. 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 behavior, along with her intimidation of her fellow players, is typical of a self-deprecating narcissist who believes everyone and everything can be hers. Solo may not have said she would be at peace with herself, but Solo’s actions and words on the field support this claim.
Fortunately, Lloyd did not always cave to Rapinoe’s intimidation. In 2021, Lloyd stood beside three other strikers to sing the national anthem. The seven others who were involved in the international friendly with Colombia chose not to kneel. Lloyd was unavoidably subject to a lot of criticism, and she did not apologize for what she had done.
This is not surprising that former players have come forward with these stories. Anybody who watched any games, or followed news about them would be able to tell they were an ugly mess from the outside. This was clearly indicative of toxic culture that is bubbling underneath the surface.
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