Carli Lloyd became the oldest goal-scorer in U.S. women’s national team history just 24 seconds into a 4-0 win over Jamaica on Sunday night in Houston.
Breaking a record that stood for 11 years, Lloyd notched her latest goal at 38 years and 332 days old, which is 68 days past when Kristine Lilly last set it in 2010.
“Records are records, they’re always going to be broken,” Lloyd said, according to the Associated Press. “For me, it’s just about winning games, it’s helping the team. I don’t go searching for these records, it’s just a good reminder just to know how grateful I am to step out on the field. Nothing has ever been given to me. I’ve had to earn every single opportunity.”
Sorry @KristineLilly! 🤣👵🏼 https://t.co/JXZtfuCUx7
— Carli Lloyd (@CarliLloyd) June 14, 2021
Lloyd was somewhat of a dark horse at the start of the year for making this summer’s U.S. Olympic team, returning to the USWNT’s January camp after missing a November one due to injury.
“I gotta say, six months ago at the start of January camp, I was like, ‘There’s no way that Carli Lloyd is making that Olympic roster,’” Danielle Slaton, 2000 Olympic silver medalist and NBC analyst, told On Her Turf last week. “And shame on me for betting against Carli Lloyd. It’s like betting against Tom Brady or LeBron James. You just don’t do it.
“Because Carli is a fighter and a competitor. She’s making a very strong case for not only making this roster, but potentially being the starting number nine (striker) on the Olympic roster.”
One of seven forwards in a current pool of 25 players that will be narrowed down to 18 for Tokyo, likely including four forwards, Lloyd would tie Christie Rampone for the most Olympic Games by a U.S. soccer player at four.
Sunday’s game also included tallies from Lindsey Horan, Margaret Purce and Alex Morgan.
Lloyd is best known for scoring the gold medal-winning goals at both the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games, plus a hat trick in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup final. The U.S. finished fifth at the 2016 Olympics after a quarterfinal loss to eventual silver medalist Sweden.
The game against Jamaica was the second of the Summer Series, which kicked off with a 1-0 win over Portugal on June 10 and ends Wednesday against Nigeria. The U.S. is undefeated in 41 consecutive matches, the team’s third-longest streak ever.
The 18-player Olympic team will be named on or before June 28.
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