- Carli Lloyd has reached the end of her illustrious soccer career with the US Women's National Team.
- Coach Vlatko Andonovski shared the story of first meeting with Lloyd while reflecting on her legacy.
- Lloyd put her work ethic on display by asking the new USWNT coach for permission to do extra work.
After four World Cups, three Olympic Games, two FIFA Player of the Year honors, and one incomparable international soccer career, Carli Lloyd has reached the end of her illustrious US Women's National Team tenure.
The eve of her retirement after 16 years with the team prompted plenty of reflection, and USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski chose to honor the moment by sharing a telling anecdote from his time coaching Lloyd.
During Monday's media availability ahead of the USWNT's matchup against South Korea — Lloyd's final game with the stars and stripes — Andonovski told the story of his and Lloyd's "very first meeting" after he took over the helm of the national team. At one of his first camps leading the squad, the prolific striker pulled Andonovski aside and asked him, "How do you feel about extra work?"
"I said, 'What do you mean?'" Andonovski recalled. "She goes, 'I have a certain regimen and work program that I do. I do certain runs on certain days on top of everything that we do in training.' And I said 'Okay, but we have a [program] that we follow, and she said 'Yes, but I do a lot more work on top of that.'"
"Then I asked her, 'How did you do it in the past?'" he added.
It turns out Lloyd took painstaking efforts to get extra reps in during USWNT camps. As she told Andonovski, the superstar would "go on Google Maps, find a piece of green area, get one of the cars that we have in camp, and drive there" so that she could do her runs in peace.
The question wasn't whether Lloyd would continue doing work beyond the team's requirements; it was whether or not she would have her new coach's blessing.
"In other words, you're going to do it anyways?" Andonovski asked Lloyd, and she confirmed. "Okay, then you might as well do it here with us. You don't have to go in parks and twist your ankle somewhere. At least we're gonna provide a good field."
"In my mind, I'm like 'Okay, she's gonna do it anyway,'" he added with a chuckle. "I might as well be the nice guy and say 'Yeah, of course, Carli. I want to support everything that you do.' And I think it kicked off a good relationship ... It was a good beginning."
The story was on-brand for the 39-year-old star. Known for her fervent work ethic, Lloyd famously ran sprints on the field after the USWNT missed out on gold at this summer's Tokyo Olympics.
Despite this intensity familiar only to the greatest in sport — she cited late NBA legend Kobe Bryant as an example last February — the top-three goal scorer in USWNT history is ready for her next chapter.
Check out Andonovski's full response to the question from The Athletic's Steph Yang below: