Carli Lloyd has said this summer's World Cup was "absolutely the worst time of my life," despite the U.S. women's national team winning the tournament.
After playing a starring role in the 2015 World Cup, Lloyd took a backseat in France this summer as the USWNT won the title for the second tournament in a row.
The 37-year-old played in all seven matches but only started one game a 3-0 win over Chile in the group stage in which she bagged a brace.
Although the World Cup was a crowning achievement for her team, Lloyd never shied away from saying she was disappointed with a reserve role in France.
And the Sky Blue midfielder has now gone a step further on ESPN's Laughter Permitted with Julie Foudy podcast.
"I'm not going to lie and sugarcoat it," Lloyd said. "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. But somehow, you see light at the end of the tunnel, and I can honestly say I'm having more fun now playing than I ever have in my career. I think I just learned a lot throughout it.
"There's no denying it, I deserved to be on that field that whole World Cup, but I wasn't. And I think I've grown as a person, as a player. It sucked. It absolutely sucked."
Though she went through a difficult time in France, Lloyd insisted that she was still happy to win a second World Cup and see some of her other teammates, such as Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner Megan Rapinoe, take center stage.
"I was super happy for my teammates and happy for Megan, who put the team on her back, and for several other players," Lloyd said. "It was great to see, and I'm happy that I could still have been a part of it."
Despite her frustration with this summer's outcome, Lloyd has not closed the door on continuing on with the USWNT.
Jill Ellis has departed as manager and Lloyd said in August that she is open to carrying on through next summer's Olympics in Tokyo if the new head coach desires.
"I’m waiting on a new coach to be announced and if that coach would like to see me in the Olympic plans then I’m all for it," Lloyd said.
