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Carli Lloyd played a starring role when the United States ended their 16-year drought by winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the third time in Canada in 2015.
The legendary forward produced one of the most incredible individual World Cup performances of all-time, scoring a hat-trick inside 16 minutes finished off by an audacious strike from halfway, as the US ran riot in the first half against Japan to secure an emphatic 5-2 win.
She won both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot as the tournament’s best player and top scorer.
Lloyd was there again in France in 2019, albeit in a smaller role, used primarily as an impact sub, as the world champions defended their title by beating the Netherlands 2-0.
She scored three goals en route to the final and came off the bench in the dying minutes of the decider before hosting the trophy as co-captain.
So can the world No 1 continue their golden run in New Zealand and Australia this year without her, and become the first team to win three in row?
Lloyd, who retired after the Tokyo Olympics, said the US “have the talent and the depth” to go all the way in 2023 but must navigate the most wide open World Cup in history if they are to claim a three-peat Down Under.
MONIQUE FORD/The Post
Two-time World Cup winner Carli Lloyd was reunited with the trophy in Wellington on Friday.
Speaking at the World Cup trophy tour in Wellington on Friday, six days out from the opening game, the FIFA legend believed there were as many as 10 nations capable of winning this year, the US included.
After witnessing Zambia’s shock win over the No 2-ranked Germany in their final warm-up again last weekend, Lloyd predicted the expanded 32-team World Cup to deliver numerous upsets.
“From my first World Cup in 2007 [until now] it’s come such a long way; the popularity, the sport, the teams. This is going to be the most competitive World Cup to date and it’s really hard to pinpoint an out-and-out winner for this one, which just goes to show how far the game has come,” Lloyd said.
RICKY WILSON/STUFF
The United States had their first proper training in Auckland ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“Of the top 10 teams I think anyone can make a run for this World Cup. The general theme heading into this one is there have been a lot of injuries to a lot of different teams, so how are teams going to factor in different players, maybe some players playing in different roles?
“The US have key players that are still coming back from injuries so ultimately it’s a matter of which team is going to be peaking at the right moment, what team is going to come together and ultimately not have any more injuries.”
One favourite Lloyd said she had doubts about was Germany given their recent dip in form.
The 2003 and 2007 champions were stunned 3-2 by debutantes Zambia, the lowest-ranked team heading into the World Cup.
They also struggled to beat Vietnam, who were then played off the park by Football Ferns in their next match, only winning 2-1.
“Germany, they’ve had some interesting results lately so I’m not so sure about them. But could they get to the World Cup and all of a sudden turn it on?
“I think there’s going to be some surprises. It’s going to be like the men’s World Cup where you see teams like Morocco and how inspirational their run was. Look at Zambia and what they have done in their last couple of friendlies.
“What I love the most about this World Cup is you see the teams that are really fearless against anyone.”
Like a lot of the favourites to win this year’s World Cup, the US have hit hard by injuries to big-time players.
They have arrived in New Zealand without captain Becky Sauerbrunn, gun forwards Mallory Swanson and Catarina Macario and previous World Cup winners Christen Press and Sam Mewis.
Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Carli Lloyd and the US team celebrate after beating the Netherlands in the final to win the 2019 World Cup.
But Lloyd said the defending champions were blessed with greater depth than most nations, which could prove the difference in a tightly-contested tournament.
She tipped newbies Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman to be two of the breakout stars. Swanson’s knee injury should provide both rising stars with plenty of opportunities to showcase their talents to the world.
“[The US] definitely can [win it]. They have the talent and the depth,” Lloyd said. “You want to be on a team like the US where the depth is very strong. For the longest time it’s almost like we’ve been able to field two A squads if you want to look at it that way.
“They can’t really think about key injuries to key players. You just have to turn the page and make sure the next player up is ready to go, and we’re not going to really know until that first whistle and we see how the team shapes up.”
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