It promises to be an emotional night at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minn., as U.S. women’s national soccer team legend Carli Lloyd plays her final match for the USWNT to close out a legendary career. There are plans to honor her before and after the match against South Korea and the tears will be flowing with 28 members of her friends and family in attendance.
“I know when I play this game it’s going to be really hard to hold back the tears and get on the mic after the game, but I’m just going to embrace it and I’m going to know they’re here by my side,” Lloyd told media members before the game. “Having them here, being able to close out my career is going to be one of the best things that’s probably ever happened to me. Just knowing I can walk away at peace and content is really, really special.”
The 39-year-old Lloyd has played 315 matches (second most in world soccer history behind Kristine Lilly’s 354) and she has scored 134 goals (third in USWNT history and fourth all-time in the world). She featured off the bench for the final 27 minutes against South Korea last Thursday in Kansas City, surely saving herself for the start and the captain’s armband on Tuesday. Lloyd has two more regular season matches in the NWSL with NJ/NY Gotham FC (Oct. 28 and Oct. 31) and any playoff matches before officially hanging up her boots.
MORE: Where Carli Lloyd ranks among USWNT’s all-time greats
It won’t be easy for Lloyd to close out her career with a goal. The No. 18-ranked South Korean side managed to shut out the Americans on Thursday in a 0-0 draw, which halted a 22-match winning streak at home. The USWNT are also unbeaten in 61 straight games at home (55-0-6).
Tuesday’s will be the final home match of 2021 for the USWNT ahead of a planned November trip for matches in Australia (Nov. 27 and Nov. 30) to close out the year. The next major competition for the Americans is the 2023 World Cup with regional qualifying taking place in July 2022.
How to watch USA vs. South Korea
- Date: Tuesday, Oct. 26
- Time: 8 p.m. ET
- TV Channels: FS1
- Spanish-language TV: TUDN
- Streaming: fuboTV
The match will air in both English (FS1) and Spanish (TUDN) in the USA. Both channels are available on fuboTV, which is available to new users on a free 7-day trial.
FS1 will have complete pregame coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET and a dedicated “CarliCam” can be accessed on the FOX Sports App and FS1’s social media channels.
MORE: USWNT faces big decisions in leadup to 2023 World Cup
The match will be played at Allianz Field in Minnesota, which is home to Major League Soccer’s Minnesota United FC.
USA vs. South Korea lineups
Tuesday will be the final match of the USWNT’s four-game Olympic celebration tour. All 22 players from the 2021 Olympic team were invited, but some had to drop out because of injury. Four players who were not on the Olympic Team were also added: Andi Sullivan, Sophia Smith, Mallory Pugh and Emily Fox.
Four players did not see the field in the 0-0 draw against South Korea last Thursday and Sullivan was not in the matchday squad because of a minor knee injury.
USWNT Oct. 21 starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): 21-Adrianna Franch-GK — 5-Kelley O’Hara, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 12-Tierna Davidson, 20-Casey Krueger — 16-Rose Lavelle, 9-Lindsey Horan, 17-Catarina Macario — 7-Tobin Heath, 13-Alex Morgan, 15-Megan Rapinoe
USWNT subs (5): 27-Sophia Smith (46’ for Heath), 22-Kristie Mewis (46’ for Macario), 11-Mallory Pugh (46’ for Rapinoe), 10-Carli Lloyd (63’ for Morgan), 26-Emily Fox (68’ for Krueger)
USWNT subs not used (4): 18-Jane Campbell-GK, 2-Abby Dahlkemper, 14-Emily Sonnett, 6-Lynn Williams
South Korea coach Colin Bell fielded a side that played in a defensive 5-3-2 formation which effectively closed the attacking spaces in which the USWNT wanted to operate. The two forwards often pulled back to provide wide cover.
MORE: How the USWNT’s 22-game home winning streak was snapped
The Korean defenders kept up with their USWNT counterparts and were rarely beaten off the dribble. Goalkeeper Younggeul Yoon also had a standout performance with eight saves.
South Korea Oct. 21 lineup (5-3-2, right to left): 1-Younggeul Yoon-GK — 2-Hyojoo Choo, 6-Seonjoo Lim, 5-Hyeji Hong, 17-Youngju Lee, 16-Selgi Jang — 15-Yeeun Park , 10-Soyun Ji, 8-Sohyun Cho — 13-Geummin Lee, 11-Yuri Choe
South Korea subs (3): 9-Minji Yeo (63’ for Yeeun Park), 7-Hyeri Kim (87’ for Guemmin Lee), 3-Yeonga Jeong (92’ for Hyojoo Choo)
South Korea subs not used (9): 18-Jungmi Kim, 19-Gaae Kang, 4-Sohee Lee, 12-Hwayeon Son, 14-Jiyoun Seo, 20-Hahnul Kwon, 21-Seongmi Kim, 22-Jeongmin Lee, 23-Mijin Cho
USA vs. South Korea: Betting odds & prediction
Odds courtesy of PointsBet
Pick: USA to win both halves (-103)
The emotion and energy that the U.S. women’s national team will have in Carli Lloyd’s final match will be too much for a South Korean side that put up staunch resistance in the first match. But the goalkeeper won’t have a second consecutive blinder and Carli Lloyd won’t be denied in her final appearance.
Prediction: USA 3, South Korea 0
- Moneyline: USA -834 / Draw +650 / South Korea +1400
- Spread (Asian Handicap): USA -2 (-150) / South Korea +2 (+120)
- O/U 3.5 total goals: Over -115 / Under -115
- Both Teams To Score: Yes +116 / No -155
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