Carli Lloyd kicked off her farewell tour with a bang on Thursday, scoring five goals to lead the United States to a 9-0 victory over Paraguay in a friendly international football match.
Veteran forward Lloyd, who announced in August her plans to retire, is slated to play four matches with the US women’s team this autumn.
She got a starting nod on Thursday and scored twice in the first six minutes.
Lloyd added two more goals in the first half and Andi Sullivan and Lynn Williams added a goal apiece as the Americans took a 6-0 lead at halftime. Sullivan scored her second goal early in the second half before Lloyd added her fifth of the night – rising to head a corner kick past Paraguayan keeper Cristina Recalde.
Lloyd tied the record for goals in a match for the US women’s team. Alex Morgan scored five goals against Thailand in the 2019 World Cup.
Tobin Heath came off the bench to complete the scoring for the United States in the match at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
The match was the US women’s first since they won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
They will play Paraguay in another friendly on Tuesday in Cincinnati and host South Korea in two friendlies in October.
