Two-time Olympic gold medalist and Fifa Women’s World Cup champion, Carli Lloyd, brought her international soccer career to an end on Oct. 26, 2021 with a 6-0 win over South Korea. 

In the 65th minute of the match, Lloyd was subbed out by fellow teammate, Alex Morgan, who she thoughtfully passed the captain’s armband to. Removing her cleats, followed by her jersey, she revealed an underlying jersey with her married name of Hollins embellished on the back. As the crowd got to their feet to honor the now retired Lloyd, tears streaked across her cheeks as she left the field for the last time. 

Resisting her parents’ wishes to pursue a career in dance, Lloyd began playing soccer at the young age of five in 1987. Fast forward to 2005, she made her first debut with the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team (USWNT) on July 10 against Ukraine. While this is an unfamiliar road to most, Lloyd began her international career before signing her first contract with a professional team, her first being with the Chicago Red Stars, a professional women’s soccer team based out of Chicago, IL. Although she began her professional career here, she spent the majority of her time playing with the Sky Blue FC, based out of her home state of New Jersey. 

Often referred to as the mother of the team, Lloyd’s teammates looked up to her for her natural leadership and positivity domineering aura she radiated. Brave, determined and intense are all words that her now past teammates have used to describe her relentless pursuit of excellence over the years.

 As she dedicated the past 30 some years of her life to the sport most commonly known as football on an international basis, Lloyd has come to terms with the end of her career. 

“I think throughout the course of my career — I’ve just been this, you know, tough as nails, iced out Carli. And I haven’t shown much emotion throughout my career, I’ve just been flipping the chapters, one chapter after the next, and I’ve now reached the last chapter,” said Lloyd. 

Lloyd’s drive and overall soccer career can be represented by one championship game that took place in the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada where she netted the fastest hat trick in World Cup history in just 16 minutes. Becoming the second player in the sport’s history to score a hat trick in the World Cup final, Lloyd finally began to be recognized as one of the top leading midfielders in the world. Ranking second in most international games among all lady footballers with 316 caps and third in goals scored for the USWNT, Lloyd leaves behind an everlasting legacy.