American midfielder Carli Lloyd announces her retirement

On Monday (16 August), 39-year-old American Carli Lloyd announced her decision to retire from football.

The two-time FIFA Women's Player of the Year (2015 and 2016), Lloyd recorded 128 career goals over 312 caps for the USWNT. She scored 10 times in World Cup play over her career and earned the Golden Ball trophy for her performance in 2015.

In a statement to U.S. Soccer, Lloyd said, "To end my career knowing my family was able to be by my side and share this last chapter with me could not have been any more special. We will all have a lot more time to spend together now, and especially with my husband Brian, who has been my rock and biggest support system for all these years. We are both looking forward to starting this next chapter of our lives without my everyday grind of training and playing, but I will most likely need to another outlet for my competitiveness! Perhaps that will be golf?"

U.S. Soccer said they will "soon announce four fall friendly matches for the USWNT - two in September and two in October - which will serve as Lloyd's final games in a U.S. uniform. Lloyd will also play the remainder of the National Women's Soccer League season with NJ/NY Gotham FC before also calling time on her professional club career, which has spanned 12 years and six teams."