It was a rather bitter pill to swallow for the American fans after the US Women’s National team was knocked out of the 2023 World Cup. Losing to Sweden in the RO16 on penalties had invited criticism from legend Carli Lloyd, saying the team “regressed so far down that there really is no gap.” But the USWNT brought the inaugural CONCACAF W Gold Cup home, months later. Nevertheless, Lloyd still feels that the continental trophy doesn’t place the team at a similar level to the World Champions, Spain.

On Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast, Lloyd was asked about the gap between Spain and the US. And the two-time World Cup winner said, “I think everybody is already ahead in the US now and has to catch back up. So they have the work cut out for them and that’s not a bad thing. It’s gonna ignite these players but Spain is on a different level,” asking for improvement from the team.

Appreciating the superiority of the European giant, Carli feels that it’s the other teams that are leveling up and are more confident than before, hence USA will not have it easy. She said, “We’re seeing the tactical sophistication, the technical ability, but we talk about the mentality and the fight and all of that these teams just used to mentally crumble and now they’re not. They actually feel really confident to play the US,” citing the evolution.

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Moreover, Lloyd feels that Spain’s improved gameplay and strategy have come into the limelight. The 41-year-old stated that Spain’s phenomenon is a product of the evolution at the ‘youth level’ and that reaching such a peak was just ‘a matter of time.’ On the other hand, USA winning the CONCACAF W Gold Cup doesn’t make them better with such a team, according to Lloyd’s words. Even Lalas called out the USWNT after winning the tournament recently.

Ex-USMNT star Alexi Lalas called out an ‘in transition’ USWNT side, before Carli Lloyd

Alexi Lalas, in a similar opinion to Carli Lloyd, felt his country was lagging a little bit. Lallas earlier said, “I thought it was a bad performance and a good result,” and suggested improvements stating, “It’s a USWNT still in transition that lacks ruthlessness, direction, and identity. But winning is much better than losing…in my professional opinion,” with a sigh of relief.

Nevertheless, USWNT had an initial shock in the group stage of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup when Mexico handed them only their 2nd loss against the neighbors in 43 games. But the team went on to achieve glory after beating Brazil 1-0 in the final.

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Ultimately, the USWNT would like to move on. With the expected arrival of their new Head Coach, Emma Hayes, things are looking bright for the team. As the games in Paris are soon arriving, they will determine where USWNT stands among others.

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