Tiffany McCarty has recounted her time playing alongside Carli Lloyd with the Houston Dash, saying that despite her lofty status in the game, the U.S. women's national team star always put in extra work after training.
Lloyd, 39, has already played her final game with the USWNT and will end her playing career whenever Gotham FC's NWSL playoff run comes to an end.
McCarty, who now plays with Breidablik in Iceland, told Goal about being Lloyd's teammate with Houston in 2015 – the same year she scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final for the USWNT.
What was said?
"I've played with a lot of really good players," McCarty said on All of US: The U.S. Women's Soccer Show podcast. "I think the most memorable was when I was in Houston, I played with Carli Lloyd for a year.
"I just remember watching her after practice doing fitness for like 20 minutes, and I just remember watching her like, 'Wow, she has national team camp in two days. and she's running fitness after our training where we had fitness already!'
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"I really watched to see what it was to be a professional and what are the things that you have to do to maintain that level. Because everyone talks about getting there, but it's hard to maintain that when you're actually an elite (player).
"You can never stop getting better. I think what stuck with me with her is there's no age limit for growth. There's no age limit for improving yourself at all."
What's next for Lloyd?
Having bid farewell to the USWNT, Lloyd will complete the remainder of the post-season with Gotham FC before her illustrious career comes to a close.
Gotham will take on the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday in an NWSL quarter-final matchup, with the winner set to face the Portland Thorns in the semi-final the following weekend.
The NWSL championship is set for November 20 and will take place in Louisville.
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