AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Co-captain Lindsey Horan brushed apart criticism leveled on the United States by former teammate-turned-pundit Carli Lloyd, calling it exterior noise.

Now an analyst with Fox Sports, Lloyd didn’t maintain again after the Americans eked out a spot within the knockout spherical on the Women’s World Cup with a scoreless draw in opposition to Portugal.

Lloyd known as her former group “uninspiring” and criticized gamers for dancing and laughing with followers after the match in Auckland on Tuesday.

“I have never witnessed something like that,” she mentioned. “There’s a difference between being respectful of the fans and saying hello to your family, but to be dancing, to be smiling?”

The subsequent day, Lloyd walked again the feedback a bit: “I was very critical of the team last night. I had some time to reflect, to sleep on it and I want people to understand that I care deeply about this team.”

Horan mentioned Thursday that Lloyd’s feedback stung.

“It’s kind of frustrating for me to hear, 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,” Horan mentioned.

The United States has lengthy retreated right into a bubble atmosphere on the World Cup, staying off social media, avoiding commentators and usually shutting out the skin world.

So the criticism aimed on the group primarily is simply noise, Horan mentioned.

“Again, it’s noise and, again, it’s an opinion and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We know that’s how it goes, Horan said. “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, etc.”

It’s true the United States has not been as dominant at this World Cup as in previous tournaments, with only a single win and two attracts within the group stage. But the Americans however have moved on to the knockout spherical.

The United States, which has gained a document 4 World Cup titles, faces Sweden on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, to open the Round of 16.

Lloyd, who retired in 2021, scored three targets within the first 16 minutes of the 2015 World Cup closing in opposition to Japan, and the United States went on to win the title 5-2. She additionally was on the squad that gained the 2019 World Cup.

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