United States women's national team captain Lindsey Horan is pushing back against the criticism that has come from former USWNT star Carli Lloyd. After Lloyd called out the USWNT for an uninspiring performance in the 2023 FIBA Women's World Cup group stage, Lindsey Horan defended the team's effort.

Horan scored the only goal for the United States in the USWNT's 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in their second match of the tournament. The USWNT backed into the 2023 Women's World Cup knockout stage by surviving a scoreless draw with Portugal. Horan said the USWNT's struggles weren't from a lack of passion, as Lloyd suggested.

“It's kind of frustrating for me to hear,” Horan said on Thursday, via ESPN, “especially knowing this team and knowing how much we put into every single game, how much preparation we put into every single game, seeing our trainings, seeing how hard we work.”

“Again, it's noise and, again, it's an opinion and everyone is entitled to their own opinion — we know that's how it goes,” Horan added. “But for me, I always want to defend my team and say: you have no idea what's going on behind the scenes, you have no idea every single training what we're doing individually, collectively, etcetera.

“So, for anyone to question our mentality hurts a little bit but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. I don't really care. It's what's going inside of the team and getting ready for that next game.”

Whatever the reason for their underwhelming performance, Horan and the USWNT are no longer the Women's World Cup favorites. That distinction now belongs to England, which has the best odds to win its first-ever Women's World Cup championship.