Soccer Great Carli Lloyd Rips US Women’s Team ‘Culture’ as Ex-Goalie Hope Solo Bemoans Team’s Foray Into ‘The Political Game’

Soccer legend Carli Lloyd didn’t hold back while discussing her feelings towards the recent culture of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.

“Even within our squad, I mean, the culture has changed,” Lloyd said on SiriusXM’s Hope Solo Speaks podcast. “It was really tough and challenging to play these last several years.”

Lloyd then took things a step further.

“I mean, to be quite honest,  I hated it. It wasn’t fun going in, and it was only for love of the game, really, for me,” she said. “I wanted to win and I wanted to help the team. But the culture within the team was the worst I had ever seen it.”

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The two-time gold medalist was the only member of the USWNT to not take a knee for the national anthem when the USWNT played Australia last August in the Olympics.

“That makes me really sad Carly,” Solo responded. “I know when I got fired in 2016 — every time I left her camp, Jeremy, my husband hated, hated to see me sad. I didn’t want to go to the culture of the camp. I didn’t want to go to the the social aspects of camp.”

Solo then explained she was always interested in being nothing more than an athlete.

“I just wanted to be a professional athlete,” Solo said. “I wanted to be cut throat and I wanted to win. But you still have to play the political game and social games sometimes. And that’s hard for especially an introvert like myself.”

In addition to some of the political issues surrounding the team, the USWNT has been involved in a controversial pay dispute with US Soccer which Solo recently described as “heartbreaking.”

Listen above via Hope Solo Speaks.