With guidance, Carli Lloyd becomes key piece for U.S.

Laken Litman | USA TODAY Sports

ST. LOUIS — Carli Lloyd almost quit soccer.

Her whole career she'd been told, "You're the best, You're the best," and had fallen into a trap where she'd become lax. She was able to get away with giving only 70 or 80%, which was good enough.

About 12 years ago, she was cut from the national U-21 team. She was invited back because another player got hurt, but had a decision to make about her future. She wasn't starting, was getting hardly any playing time, wasn't in shape or mentally strong. So maybe it was time to give it up.

That's when her father sought help from local New Jersey soccer guru James Galanis, the director of soccer operations for the Universal Soccer Academy. He had a reputation of turning players into world-class athletes and before Lloyd made a final decision, her father wanted to see if Galanis could work some magic.

He did.

"When I met James, everything changed," Lloyd told USA TODAY Sports. "I saw an immediate impact after training. He told me if I want to do this for a living, I have to work hard every single day. Prior to that, I just thought I was this perfect player out there and really just didn't look into myself to try to get better. After meeting James, I realized I have a long way to go. I can't blame coaches, can't blame teammates."

This summer in Canada, Lloyd, 32, will play in her third World Cup. When she first met Galanis at 21, she didn't know how to be a professional. Now she's the ultimate. She wears a captain's armband and hopes her play "helps inject confidence into people."

"She didn't have good habits," said Galanis, who has become "like a brother" to Lloyd. "Mentally, she was weak. Physically she was weak. She came to me and wanted to play at the national team level, and I evaluated her and designed a program specifically for her. Since then, she's turned out to be one of the best professionals in the world game, men or women."

In the beginning, they trained six hours a day and Galanis did it for free. He said she needed so much work that Lloyd's family wouldn't have been able to afford him if he charged the usual $10 an hour.

Galanis studied athletes' mental habits and instilled their tactics in Lloyd. He told her what Michael Jordan did to transform his game and explained why Muhammad Ali was the greatest boxer. Lloyd even boxes now as part of her training because she's "always looking for different ways to get stronger, better and fitter," she said.

"I used examples of champion athletes and she got it," Galanis said.

Galanis identified the three things they worked on the most.

"She didn't know how to execute her skills properly, physically she wasn't fit at all, she lacked endurance and mentally wasn't a fierce competitor," Galanis said. "Look at her today, her skills are great, mentally she's a fierce competitor and physically she is probably the fittest player in the world.

"Basically, she's turned all those weaknesses into strengths."

Galanis said it took about six months to tweak Lloyd's skills and fitness levels, two years before she believed she could be one of the best players in the world.

Since then, Lloyd has played in two Olympics and two World Cups and has 191 caps and 63 goals. She isn't recognized in the same way as Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux or Hope Solo, but she's one of the most valuable players heading into this World Cup. The U.S. opens against Australia on June 8. As preparation for this summer, the Americans play a friendly against New Zealand on Saturday.

On a team with abundant depth at every position, Lloyd seldom comes off the field. The veteran was named CONCACAF MVP last fall and scored two critical goals against Norway to give the U.S a 2-1 win last month.

And if she's not scoring goals, she's setting up game-changing plays.

"I'm not into the glitz and the glamour and doing my hair for games," Lloyd said. "I'm a competitor, I'm a battler. I go out there, roll up the sleeves, play like an underdog and I live for those moments and those times where the pressure is on. It's fun to be like that. I think people are realizing and starting to take notice of what I've done, but it's kind of the nature of the sport I guess.

"It's great that a lot of people are recognized on the team but when my career is over I want to leave a different legacy on this team."

That legacy, she says, is that of "a true professional around the clock." Something she had to learn.

"She doesn't switch off. She trains when no one is watching. She's on a mission 24/7," Galanis said. "It's taken awhile for the world to realize that she's the best all-around player in the world. She can do anything. Defend, attack, be a leader on the field, work box to box, score goals, win tackles…she can do everything."

Added Wambach: "Even after she retires, she's going to want to be the best in the world. That's the kind of player you want on the field during championship games."​