Carli Lloyd wants to play through the World Cup and (maybe) the Olympics before retiring

By Ryan Rosenblatt
Published

Carli Lloyd is heading to Manchester City after signing with the Women's Super League team. The United States star is going to take her chances abroad on a short-term deal that will see her return to the Houston Dash of NWSL in June, but hidden in the news of Lloyd's move is a nugget on when she sees her career ending.

“I’ve still got three or four years left in me before I hang up the cleats," Lloyd said in Manchester City's release.

Three or four years would take the 34-year-old Lloyd through the 2019 World Cup for sure and almost certainly through the 2020 Olympics. Lloyd will turn 38 years old a week before the Olympics and it sounds like she is trying to make it through that before retiring.

Lloyd scored a hat trick in the 2015 World Cup final and has two Olympic gold medals, but she wants to add to them. Considering she has won FIFA World Player of the Year in each of the last two years, there's plenty of reason to think she could make it through 2020.




Of course, age hits players at different times so there's no telling when Lloyd will slow down, but she is known for being one of the hardest workers and keeps herself in incredible shape, which should help her play at a high level as she ages. The bigger problem for her may be how she fits into the U.S. team because she has a pretty specific role as roaming player, somewhat of a withdrawn striker. Doing so requires building the team around her, which is fine when she's one of the best players in the world like now, but depending on whether she stays this good and how the American talent around her develops, that position and role could make things difficult.

For now, Lloyd is a superstar so there are no worries. And she's going to Manchester City, where she'll get to test herself abroad for the first time and cross some dreams off her list.

“It’s definitely an unbelievable opportunity to be able to compete in the Spring Series, the FA Cup and most importantly, the Champions League," Lloyd told City.

And once she does that, it's back to the Dash with an eye on the World Cup and Olympics. She's taking aim at those two before calling it a career.