Carli Lloyd believes that the U.S. women’s national team has embraced Korbin Albert after the controversial midfielder was a vital part of the team’s Olympic gold medal victory.
Albert has been under fire for months after fans discovered homophobic and transphobic social media posts on TikTok, with the 20-year-old called out by USWNT players past and present.
Amid the controversy, the midfielder continued to be an important midfield cog for the USWNT, with head coach Emma Hayes offering her backing after naming Albert to the Olympic roster.
Albert repaid Hayes’ faith at the tournament in France, playing in five of the team’s six games and starting two of its three knockout-round matches — including Saturday’s gold medal game.
Playing at her club Paris Saint-Germain’s home stadium Parc des Princes, Albert delivered the game-winning assist to Mallory Swanson as the USWNT defeated Brazil 1-0 to take home its first gold medal since 2012.
In an appearance on the State of the Union podcast with Alexi Lalas, USWNT legend Lloyd said that from the outside, it appeared that the team had moved on from the controversy.
“She was one of the best players on the field that day (against Brazil) and she played a huge role,” Lloyd said of Albert.
“The midfield looked a little bit more cohesive, and then she played that perfectly weighted pass on for Mallory Swanson to score.
“Ultimately, you silence haters by doing something well on the field and performing. I can’t comment on what’s been going on within the team, but it certainly looks like the team has embraced her.
“When she scored her goal (against Australia), everybody was hugging her and seemed really excited. So hopefully everybody can just move on. And I would imagine that the group has talked about the issue and talked about what happened, and I’m sure they’re wanting to move past it as well.”
Lalas added: “Let’s hope so. Ultimately, she did the job on the field, and she did the job on the field even with all the other stuff that was going on, and the crap that she has been getting off the field. And so it says a lot about her mentality, as a person and as a player.”
In addition to her assist against Brazil, Albert also scored her first USWNT goal in a 2-1 win over Australia to close out the group stage.
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