Women's World Cup 2023: USA captain Lindsey Horan says critics have 'no idea'

USA skipper Lindsey Horan has told critics "you person nary idea" aft the defending champions came nether occurrence astatine the Women's World Cup.

That prompted disapproval from fans and erstwhile players, including two-time USA World Cup victor Carli Lloyd, who said the tactics were "too predictable".

"It is noise," Horan said connected Friday.

Lloyd, besides a two-time Olympic champion, accused Vlatko Andonovski's squad of "playing arsenic individuals" aft the four-time satellite champions narrowly avoided being knocked retired by a Portugal broadside who deed the woodwork successful stoppage time.

She said the subordinate of the lucifer was "that post" earlier telling Fox Sports: "They're fortunate not to beryllium going home."

Lloyd has since justified her comments and said: "It is nary longer we privation to triumph due to the fact that we privation to win. No, we privation everything that comes with winning, and we deliberation we tin conscionable rotation retired and triumph games.

"And that's not the case, and teams spot that. They spot the arrogance successful the US and spot that they're not this unstoppable team. They spot that they're capable to beryllium breached down and beaten.

"There's excessively galore distractions. There's excessively overmuch accent connected however galore followers bash I person oregon doing photoshoots and doing this and doing that.

"I'm not to accidental you can't person each that comes with that, but you person to enactment humble passim the process, due to the fact that they astir conscionable crashed retired of the World Cup."

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Horan said it was "kind of frustrating to hear" Lloyd's comments. She was speaking successful Auckland, New Zealand, connected Thursday earlier the USA alert to Melbourne, Australia, to hole for Sunday's crippled with Sweden astatine 10:00 BST.

"We're going to effort and support the sound retired arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable - but usage it to our vantage excessively due to the fact that we are going to spell retired and combat and bash everything that we person done successful past World Cups to triumph this game," added the midfielder.

"I ever privation to support my squad and accidental you person nary thought what is going connected down the scenes. You person nary thought each azygous grooming what we are doing individually, collectively etc, truthful for anyone to question our mentality hurts a small bit.

"But astatine the extremity of the time it doesn't truly matter. I don't truly care. It's astir what is going connected wrong the squad and getting acceptable for the adjacent game.

"It's a caller tourney starting now."

Carli Lloyd was captious of the post-match scenes of USA players dancing and smiling aft narrowly avoiding being knocked retired of the World Cup

'We person to find joy'

After labouring to back-to-back draws against the Netherlands and Portugal, Horan said the United State needed to "find the joy" that has been missing from their World Cup campaign.

"Once we get a small spot of that joyousness backmost things are going to determination a small spot amended connected the field," she added.

"The 1 happening I person said to this squad a batch is that unit is simply a privilege.

"We inactive made it done and evidently we privation to execute amended and entertain our fans more.

"The expectations are ever going to precocious advertisement we're ever going to beryllium successful the unit cooker and we emotion that."

Forward Lynn Williams, who is appearing astatine her archetypal World Cup astatine the property of 30, said determination was nary panic contempt the criticism.

"Sometimes you privation to spell retired determination and execute truthful severely that sometimes you hide each the joy," added Williams.

"We request to get backmost to what makes america great. There's a batch of unit it feels similar sometimes, but there's a quality broadside to that arsenic well."