Carli Lloyd won her second World Cup with the US women’s national team this summer but it’s safe to say she did not enjoy the experience as much as her teammates.

The 37-year-old scored a hat-trick in the 2015 World Cup final but was relegated to a role off the bench this time around, and had to play as a forward rather than in her preferred position as an attacking midfielder.

Lloyd appeared on ESPN’s Laughter Permitted with Julie Foudy podcast this week, and said the last three years were the worst of her career, as she coped with injuries and a diminished role with the national team.

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“I’m not going to lie and sugarcoat it,” Lloyd said. “It was absolutely the worst time of my life. It affected my relationship with my husband, with friends. It really was rock bottom of my entire career. But somehow, you see light at the end of the tunnel, and I can honestly say I’m having more fun now playing than I ever have in my career. I think I just learned a lot throughout it.”

Lloyd also said she believed she was playing her best football coming into this year’s World Cup, and deserved more than a place on the bench. “There’s no denying it,” Lloyd said. “I deserved to be on that field that whole World Cup, but I wasn’t. And I think I’ve grown as a person, as a player. It sucked. It absolutely sucked.”

While Lloyd was the undoubted star of the 2015 World Cup, her US teammate Megan Rapinoe was in the spotlight for much of this summer’s tournament, as she made an impact on the field and spoke out on social issues off it. Lloyd told Foudy that her frustration was at her personal situation rather than any resentment towards her teammates.

“I was super happy for my teammates and happy for Megan [Rapinoe], who put the team on her back, and for several other players,” Lloyd said. “It was great to see, and I’m happy that I could still have been a part of it.”

Lloyd has been linked to a move to the NFL as a kicker, but she said that her main focus is playing in next year’s Olympics. The US are currently looking for a new coach after the departure of Jill Ellis.

“I hope a coach comes in that values me, respects me, wants me [as] a part of the Olympic plans,” Lloyd said. “There’s no question my abilities are there. I’m able to do it. Physically I’m able to do it. I would love to be a part of it, but I want to have an open, honest conversation, because if I’m not, I can’t go through what I went through for three years.”

Lloyd started her career with the US in 2005 and has scored 118 goals in 286 appearances.