USWNT's Lindsey Horan frustrated by Carli Lloyd criticism on team's mentality - ESPN

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — United States women's national team captain Lindsey Horan pushed back against negative comments from retired former teammate and pundit Carli Lloyd, saying such criticism of the team's mentality «hurts» and is «frustrating» but it's just «noise.»

Lloyd, now working as a Fox Sports commentator, stirred controversy by criticizing her former team after a 0-0 draw against Portugal to close the Women's World Cup group stage. Lloyd retired from the team in 2021 and has played with most of this current USWNT roster and for coach Vlatko Andonovski.

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«It's kind of frustrating for me to hear,» Horan said on Thursday, «especially knowing this team and knowing how much we put into every single game, how much preparation we put into every single game, seeing our trainings, seeing how hard we work.»

«Again, it's noise and, again, it's an opinion and everyone is entitled to their their their own opinion — we know that's how it goes,» Horan added. «But for me, I always want to defend my team and say: you have no idea what's going on behind the scenes, you have no idea every single training what we're doing individually, collectively, etcetera.

»So, for anyone to question our mentality hurts a little bit but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. I don't really care. It's what's going inside of the team and getting ready for that next game."

The 0-0 draw to Portugal on Tuesday was a disappointment for the No. 1-ranked U.S. team, the overwhelming favorite to beat No. 21-ranked Portugal, especially since a loss could've eliminated the USWNT from the tournament. Ana Capeta nearly scored for Portugal about