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Carli Lloyd believes expressing her unhappiness about a diminished role when the U.S. won the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France this summer shows her winning mentality, and the words wouldn't be criticised if they came from a male athlete.

Lloyd took to Twitter on Wednesday to defend comments she made during a recent edition of the Laughter Permitted with Julie Foudy podcast (h/t espnW.com's Graham Hays).

"Why do I need to explain that mindset?" she wrote in part. "A champion mindset is the will to be the best. If Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady or any other elite male athlete said the same thing there would be no problem."

The 37-year-old had told Foudy how playing less for her country since the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro made her feel: "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."

What particularly drew Lloyd's ire was her lack of minutes during the tournament in France. While she appeared in all but one of the USWNT's games, Lloyd only started one of her seven matches and came off the bench in the final against the Netherlands.

However, Sky Blue FC star Lloyd felt she merited greater inclusion: "I deserved to be on that field that whole World Cup, but I wasn't."

It's a view others, including Charles Olney of Stars and Stripes FC, share:

As a two-time FIFA World Player of the Year, Lloyd had established herself as arguably the most gifted member of a generation loaded with talent. The sudden loss of status in Jill Ellis' starting XI likely came as a shock, although some would agree with the selection decision made in France:

Even so, there was no animosity in the way Lloyd described her happiness for team-mates, including striker Megan Rapinoe, who took on a starring role.

Yet while she was pleased for others, Lloyd told Foudy how she wants to be a part of the group expected to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. It's a serious ambition and one that may have been at the heart of her assessment of playing in a squad role at a major tournament.