Carli Lloyd retires from soccer at age 39

American women’s soccer superstar Carli Lloyd of Delran Township, NJ has retired at the age of 39 according to Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press on Monday. In Lloyd’s remarkable soccer career, she won two FIFA Women’s World Cup titles and two gold medals at the Olympic Games for the United States.

Lloyd’s gold medals came at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She also was part of the American teams that won the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

In 312 international games representing the United States, Lloyd had 128 goals. She is currently tied for fifth among all women’s soccer players in international goals. Lloyd only trails Canadian legend Christine Sinclair (187 goals). American Abby Wambach of Rochester, NY (184 goals), American Mia Hamm of Selma, AL (158 goals), and Kristine Lilly of New York City. NY (130 goals). Lloyd was tied for fifth place alongside Germany’s Birgit Prinz.

Lloyd’s most memorable game came at the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. In a 5-2 United States win over Japan, Lloyd delivered a hat trick, becoming only the second soccer player ever (male or female) to score three goals in a World Cup Final. The first player to accomplish the feat was Geoff Hurst of Ashton-under-Lyne, England, who scored thrice in the 1966 World Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, in a 5-2 England win over West Germany.

Lloyd scored her goals in the third, fifth and 16th minutes in the 2015 Women’s World Cup Final. At the time Lloyd scored her third goal of the match, the United States had already gone up by a score of 4-0. She was named the player of the match and won the Golden Ball Trophy for the best player of the entire tournament.

At the Olympic Games, Lloyd also scored the game winning goals for the United States in the last two games where the United States won the Olympic gold medal. In 2008, she scored the only goal of the game in the 96th minute in a 1-0 win over Brazil. Then in 2012, she scored both of the United States’ goals (in the eighth and 54th minutes) in a 2-1 win over Japan.