Carli Lloyd’s Olympic soccer forecasts for the USWNT hit a dead end after the knockout stages. She claimed that Spain was a sure-shot candidate for the gold medal game. The current World Champions, interestingly, even lost the bronze medal to Germany. In contrast, she was least optimistic about Team USA and coach Emma Hayes’ chances for the Olympic gold. She said Team USA was quite under-prepared to compete for the big prize. However, now that Team USA is minutes away from fighting Brazil for their fifth gold medal, Lloyd couldn’t help but predict a win for coach Hayes and Co.

Carli Lloyd has become a huge Emma Hayes fan lately. She earlier defended Hayes’ hard-boiled coaching style by posting on X. Under the same post, a user asked the USWNT legend to predict the winner of the USA-Brazil gold medal match. “I think it can go either way. Brazil has been growing into this tournament and gaining confidence. But are always susceptible to not being able to win when it matters,” said Lloyd. Then, she heaped praises on the USWNT.

“The USA has added a new element to their game and that’s mental toughness. They have found ways to win and have the threat up top with the 3 stepping up at any time and also solid in goal and in the back,” Lloyd said. She added, “This feels like it’s USA’s time to win it though!”

From looking down on USWNT’s Olympic run by saying “I think it’s going to be a stretch honestly,” Carli Lloyd has come a long way to bet on the USWNT’s chances for the Olympic gold. So let’s have a sneak peek into Lloyd’s journey from being Team USA’s harshest critic to its biggest cheerleader at the Olympics.

How Hayes and Team USA changed Carli Lloyd’s stance on US stars in the Olympics

“It’s hard, especially with what Emma is wanting to implement, kind of brick-by-brick; It’s a process that takes time. Some of these players have to learn and struggle to go through a tournament like this,” Carli Lloyd said before the Olympic knockouts started. Once when Team USA defeated Germany to book a spot in the Olympic final, Lloyd was fully convinced that the USWNT stars had learned to struggle. She defended Emma Hayes when she said she wants USWNT players to suffer so that they thrive well under pressure.

“It’s a psychological battle when you get into tournaments. While you all think you are experts, you’ve completely missed the point. Emma is hardening this team to be tough and find the point past exhaustion and fatigue,” the ex-US star wrote on X, siding with coach Hayes. To sum up, it is not a surprise that Carli Lloyd has backtracked and is betting on Team USA right now. She only thought Hayes’ team-building process would take time. Since the British coach had built chemistry within the team sooner rather than later, Lloyd couldn’t help but salute Team USA before the gold medal game.