Kevin McCauley at SB Nation wrote an article about Carli Lloyd that’s about as infuriating — and great — as McCauley thinks Lloyd herself is. While writing Lloyd “doesn’t look like she knows how to play soccer,” McCauley also sagely predicted that Lloyd, who the title calls the “weirdest world class athlete ever,” would have a major impact in the World Cup title game against Japan.
How about a hat trick with one goal coming from the middle of the field? That enough of an impact? Yup, Carli Lloyd played the Finals exactly like McCauley said she would — or said she might, anyway. He’s a student of the game and knew that there are intangibles Lloyd possesses that you can’t write down. That most people can’t see. She’s a great case against picking players by computer analytics, that’s for sure. Although the computers would surely notice that she scored three goals in 16 minutes in a game the US won by, yup, three goals.
