As Olympic athletes strive to win gold and make their names known at the 2016 Rio Games, one moniker may be repeated more than the rest, as the same name belongs to two athletes on Team USA.
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That name is Carli Lloyd. Neymar, the country’s 24-year-old star forward, looks to change that this year on home turf. The Houston Dynamo’s Designated Player Erick “Cubo” Torres is also on the team.
Lloyd, the team’s captain in Rio, said the US remains favored to win the title despite the revamped team.
Six players in all make their first Olympic starts for the USA: Becky Sauerbrunn, Julie Johnston and Meghan Klingenberg in the back, plus Pugh, Brian and Long.
Other same-name Olympians on Mallon’s short list include: Dave Johnson (1992 – Shooting and Track and Field); Craig Wilson (1992 – Baseball and Water Polo); John Matthews (1976 – Rowing and Wrestling); John Davis (1952 – Rowing and Weightlifting); Bill Miller (1932 – Rowing and Track and Field). “We know it’s going to be tough but we need to work as a team and just enjoy the experience”. I’m bad at soccer. I don’t really even understand the sport that well. “But I watch her fire and it’s cool”.
Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan scored as the USA women’s soccer team defeated New Zealand 2-0 in its debut at the Rio Games on Wednesday, getting off to a solid start in its attempt to win a fourth straight Olympic gold medal. It was then that she began getting lots of congratulatory messages on Facebook from fans of Soccer’s Lloyd.
The Rio Olympic games got officially underway on 3 Wednesday with Sweden’s women’s football team beating South Africa 1-0 in a Group E encounter at the Olympic Stadium.
The USWNT’s triumph at the 2015 Women’s World Cup was keyed in large part by their ability to weather the grind of that tournament: rotating players, managing periodization and surging into top gear in the latter rounds.
It still gets more complicated, though. Don’t be surprised to see Lloyd shine, as she has proven time and time again throughout her career that the bigger the stage, the better she performs.
But the name confusion still happens to Soccer’s Lloyd.
As our own Armchair Analyst Matt Doyle has written about evocatively in the past, United States soccer is home to a long, proud tradition of hustle, heart and hectic play, the shorthand for which is “run fast, try hard”.
“I couldn’t have asked for a more flawless game right out of the gates”, she said.
“I thought about it. So I think it’s going to be exciting”.
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Well, the feeling is mutual – according to Soccer’s Lloyd – and that time to meet face-to-face may actually be in Rio de Janeiro. She took two touched before rifling a low screamer into the near post.
