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Julie Foudy
Let's go.
Unidentified Fan or Host
Usa.
Julie Foudy
Usa.
Carli Lloyd
We had the best. Welcome to the Watch Party. Airbnb Watch Party.
Abby Wambach
Didn't you have so much fun?
Carli Lloyd
Yeah, that was amazing.
Abby Wambach
After I'm scoring that goal, an 11. Watch this celebration after I knee, slide, pop up, slip. Very uncooly. I was like, Megan was so freaking far away and her area is, like, right at my face. And all I could do was go like this.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Attention,
Abby Wambach
the party is about to commence.
Unidentified Fan or Host
Welcome to the party.
Julie Foudy
What's up, party people? I'm Julie Foudy.
Abby Wambach
And I am Abby Wambach.
Carli Lloyd
Julie, show them your face paint.
Abby Wambach
Where are we? Look at this.
Carli Lloyd
How cute is that?
Abby Wambach
Look at your face paint. My face paint? Juneteenth. Obviously, the men's national team game that just wrapped.
Carli Lloyd
We just had a party, bro. We had the best. Welcome to the Watch Party. Airbnb Watch Party.
Abby Wambach
Didn't you have so much fun?
Carli Lloyd
Yeah, that was amazing.
Abby Wambach
I had so much fun.
Carli Lloyd
This venue is amazing. This, like, we did team building.
Julie Foudy
Who allows us to do team building before game?
Abby Wambach
I know, but they had so much fun also. I had so much fun watching them do a lot of team building.
Julie Foudy
I know. We did Hulu hoops.
Carli Lloyd
We did the rock paper scissors competition, which gets insane.
Abby Wambach
Julie, what is your favorite part of the day
Julie Foudy
outside of the USA men's team winning?
Carli Lloyd
Do you remember? Okay, this isn't game related. My favorite part of today is when the referee cramped up.
Abby Wambach
I knew to say that you stole mine.
Unidentified Fan or Host
God, it's so bad.
Abby Wambach
I gotta go first.
Carli Lloyd
The best part is, like, the whole. The whole place we've got, you know, 110 people sold out, by the way.
Abby Wambach
Sold out, by the way.
Julie Foudy
And. And all of a sudden, when the
Carli Lloyd
ref starts cramping, we all start cracking up. And when the woman head referee, Katia Garcia, she's the only Mexican head referee that's a female.
Abby Wambach
No way.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah. Main ref.
Unidentified Guest or Host
And.
Julie Foudy
And.
Abby Wambach
And she comes.
Julie Foudy
She starts running out to sub in, and we all were like, yes, she's coming in.
Carli Lloyd
She almost got in.
Abby Wambach
Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
He's like, I'm good.
Julie Foudy
I'm good.
Abby Wambach
Well, because. And that happened to me and one of my World cup games that the world. The ref, the center ref, had to go off because she incurred an injury.
Carli Lloyd
Really?
Abby Wambach
Yeah. I think it was in Canada. I'll have to look up. It was in 15.
Carli Lloyd
This guy's never gonna live that down.
Abby Wambach
No, he's not.
Julie Foudy
They're, like, rubbing out his cramp.
Abby Wambach
He's not.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Okay.
Carli Lloyd
Your part of today.
Abby Wambach
Honestly, my favorite part of today was when we were leaving and I felt the exact same way, a woman came up to me and she said, you know, I love watching you all play. I love watching the men's national team play. There's something just so special about it. But it's usually from the comfort of my own home and coming into a different space in community with so many other people that I know we're all cheering for the same thing. There was something just so beautiful and special and important, and I have goosebumps right now talking about this because I think that it's so true. It was. It's true for me. You know, we watch a lot of our sporting events from home.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Yep.
Abby Wambach
And there is nothing like being in a room together. It made me feel like I was on a team.
Julie Foudy
I know.
Abby Wambach
It made me feel like I was on a cheering team.
Carli Lloyd
That might have been the team building, too.
Abby Wambach
Not only the team building, because we're excellent leaders at team building, but, yeah, I guess, like, the thing that I miss the most about playing is, like, feeling that camaraderie and that energy that you get to co create with the people around you.
Julie Foudy
Exactly.
Abby Wambach
And that was happening. We were chanting. I was standing on chairs. My wife Glennon, came, and it was really cool because you were on a
Carli Lloyd
chair after the first.
Abby Wambach
I know. For the second goal. After. Who scored the second goal? I'm losing my mind. Tillman.
Carli Lloyd
No, Freeman.
Abby Wambach
Freeman, right?
Carli Lloyd
Was it Freeman?
Abby Wambach
It was Freeman.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
Yeah. There was. There was this. This interesting thing that happened where we didn't know if it was a goal because they had a check with var. So we were like, yay. And then we were like, no. And then we were like, yay. And that is what I think Glennon's favorite part of the whole day was, too. I love you, honey.
Unidentified Guest or Host
I do.
Abby Wambach
I see you. I see you.
Julie Foudy
You're right over there nodding and smiling.
Carli Lloyd
I do love that we gotta do it with all these hardcore fans, too.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Like.
Abby Wambach
Yes.
Carli Lloyd
Like, chanting with the party people. With the party people. Chanting USA together. Celebrating every goal, like, and not even, like, celebrating the women. We're celebrating the men.
Abby Wambach
Yes.
Carli Lloyd
Which is so healthy, too.
Abby Wambach
Yes.
Carli Lloyd
Like, oh, my God, we get to watch them take over this country in such a positive way. And I know we've been talking about this a lot on the podcast, but they have this incredible opportunity because with
Julie Foudy
six points, y', all, plus five goals.
Abby Wambach
What are you thinking? Like, what do you think? What do you. What are you feeling? If the circumstances was yours?
Carli Lloyd
I think the most important thing in a tournament like this because you're. If you're thinking, okay, why not us? Which is, right, the question, they keep saying, why not us? Then you're thinking, okay, there could be a potentially eight games and you do not want a lot of this.
Abby Wambach
Right?
Carli Lloyd
Right. There's no roller coasters. You want, you want to stay steady. So you're thinking, okay, because there's the potential to go, shit, we're sitting on six points.
Julie Foudy
Look at us.
Carli Lloyd
We've had two great games, right? Two good wins, and yet you want to just kind of flatline in a good way. Not like you want to feel the emotion, but you want to be like, okay, we're good. Because you gotta. If you can finish first in your group and get that game in California against a potential third place team, that's a game changer. Because that round of 32 game, hopefully you can actually get through that.
Abby Wambach
That would be at Levi's, right?
Carli Lloyd
Yep. But Levi's in Northern California. You stay in California, then if you win that round of 16 game, then you have the potential of a quarterfinal in Los Angeles. Again, let's not think ahead of ourselves.
Abby Wambach
I agree with you on some level level that like during the group stage and where the boys are at right now, like they want to maintain kind of equilibrium in a way. I kind of look at it a little bit differently. I look at it as like different notches and different phases. So, you know, the group stage is like one mini tournament. Then you get to the round is 32 and it's another little tournament and it's like another little challenge and then as you go, but there's, there's more, there's going to be more hype surrounding the further you go. And I think that tapping into the excitement and the energy that the fans are gonna bring, that they themselves are also gonna bring to each other. Cause it's the most exciting thing that's
Unidentified Guest or Host
ever happened to them.
Abby Wambach
I think that if we want to go deep into this tournament, like really want to go deep. I really feel like every time we get into a different phase, there has to be something more you give, there's more that has to. There's a bigger energy that comes in. So to me, I wanted, I was always trying to tap into the bigness of the energy, which is why I think I was able to do crazy cool shit at the end because I was like not afraid of the energy. I was like utilize. I was like harboring the energy in a way.
Carli Lloyd
Well, I do feel these three games will give them a great base of continuity to Go and tap into that energy. To your point. Because I don't feel that we had that coming into this tournament and now I get a sense of like, these guys have played together. So to your point, like, I wouldn't change the lineup entirely because you'd want to have some continuity and you want that build to happen. But you also, you got to keep your players red card free or at least keep them in games. You've got to keep Pulisic healthy if you're going to assume that they're going to go on a deeper run. So managing his minutes, of course. Or at least getting him some sometime. So. But all to say, they're in a really good spot.
Abby Wambach
Totally. I think that they're in. They're in. They're sitting pretty. As many a soccer person would say. Sitting pretty.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah. Do you know the farthest we've ever gone in a World cup outside of 1930?
Abby Wambach
Quarters. Yeah, quarters.02.
Carli Lloyd
And I think that's. I think that's. We could beat that. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think we could beat that.
Abby Wambach
To get through the quarters.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
Wow. That's a final.
Carli Lloyd
No, I think we.
Abby Wambach
Semis. Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
Get to the semi. I think that if we finish first in our group. Right. We hit a third place team. Round of 32. You carry that energy into that round of 16 game. You just have to run around 16 to get to the corner. And then why not us, Abby?
Abby Wambach
Why not us? I. I mean, look, I. I'm going to be the first one to tell you I believe that they can get there. I also know that the game can be cruel sometimes. And I also know that things just have to kind of go right.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
You have to have some luck.
Abby Wambach
And I'm like, worried that things are going right too early right now. Like, you need a little bit of more luck as the tournament goes on. And who knows, maybe they can cultivate their luck. But I'm proud. I feel like these guys are bringing this country together. And also, can we talk about Tyler Adams and how much he protects his players from getting into like a second. A second foul.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah. You know you're talking about. Yeah. Not positionally on the field, which he does already.
Abby Wambach
Yeah, he's amazing.
Carli Lloyd
But like, even in the situation, I forget who it was today.
Abby Wambach
Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
Was it Jedi? Robinson was getting.
Abby Wambach
Yeah, it was Robinson.
Carli Lloyd
Or I forget who it was. But like, Tyler stepped in, like, like
Abby Wambach
one of the guys is getting into a tussle with an Australian and Tyler just shows up. It feels like he comes out of nowhere and immediately places himself in between him, his player and the other player and, like, totally diffuses, defuses the conflict.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
And I love that so much because, you know, World cup energy, emotions are flying.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
Egos are high and they don't want to be made fool of. And so Tyler is right there and he's just like. He, like. He, like, basically blows the fire out. He's like, yeah, not here, not now.
Carli Lloyd
I love, too, him sitting in that six because it gives the freedom for all those others to roam and have the freedom to get forward and be dynamic offensively. And he's going to protect those three that are sitting or sometimes two. We got aggressive today because Australia was only sitting with that one. To him staying and winning, every time they're counter, attacking or winning, every time they're coming at you, he's there to make that tackle and win. It is like he doesn't get enough credit for that. So let's go.
Abby Wambach
Tyler Adams, who's your player of the game
Unidentified Guest or Host
today?
Abby Wambach
Weston McKinney was mine today. I just love watching that guy play soccer because I feel like he has the freedom to go anywhere he wants. And I wish I had that freedom when I played. I know, like, not that I could cover the same amount of ground that he does, but I feel like I'm like, oh, you're up top. Oh, you're on the back line. Oh, what's happening? You're on your left wing.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
He just goes wherever he wants to go.
Julie Foudy
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
And it's awesome.
Carli Lloyd
I was going to say Freeman because of his goal and the way he was defensively. I thought he was great. But I also like Tyler Adams in that six.
Abby Wambach
Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
Because I just. I don't think he. He gets enough recognition for the importance
Julie Foudy
of what he does.
Abby Wambach
Not many sixes do.
Julie Foudy
Yeah. I know. We midfielders never get the love.
Abby Wambach
Boxy was our Tyler Adams.
Carli Lloyd
Oh, who was our. Who was your boxy? Yeah. I was trying to think who ours was.
Abby Wambach
She would just go ice. Because that was our code word for Abby. Chill. Yeah. That was our code word for chill out.
Julie Foudy
Ice.
Abby Wambach
I'd be, like, running around and veins popping out. My. They would call my. I would. I would see red and I would be like, ah, ice.
Julie Foudy
Ice.
Abby Wambach
But then I would find another way to get the girl.
Julie Foudy
You know, my favorite Abby stories is when you would come into the huddle
Unidentified Fan or Host
and you'd be like, yeah, yeah.
Carli Lloyd
And I love Abby energy all the time.
Unidentified Fan or Host
And she's like, we just gotta stop freaking out.
Abby Wambach
I did That a lot.
Julie Foudy
And we'd all look at her, and we'd start cracking up, and she'd be like, what are you laughing at? We're like, you're freaking out right now.
Carli Lloyd
Oh, I am.
Julie Foudy
I am.
Abby Wambach
Yeah.
Unidentified Fan or Host
Carter, stop freaking out.
Abby Wambach
At least I would wear it on my shoulder.
Carli Lloyd
Carla Overbeck used to be she did
Julie Foudy
it in a less physical way.
Carli Lloyd
She would just start cackling, laughing at me, laughing. And I could hear her cackling behind
Julie Foudy
me, and I turn and she have her head back, and she genuinely be,
Carli Lloyd
like, in the middle of, like, the most intense play, just laughing.
Julie Foudy
And I'm like, shut up.
Carli Lloyd
Okay, I get it.
Abby Wambach
Especially you, because you're usually pretty happy.
Julie Foudy
Go lucky.
Abby Wambach
But when you get. When you get hurt, you get irked.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
What else happened today?
Carli Lloyd
We're going. We're going to the game on Thursday.
Abby Wambach
Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
We don't know yet what's happening with our group because that's still to play with Paraguay and Turkey and then obviously the third game. But vibes are high. We had a good watch party. Thank you. Airbnb. That was amazing.
Abby Wambach
Foreign.
Unidentified Guest or Host
So the FIFA World cup is basically going to be one of those rare moments where people, you know, from all over the world are suddenly sharing space together. Right? Different cultures, different languages, different themes.
That's what I love most about it.
Yep, exactly. All, like, colliding in the same cities in North America. And as we both can attest, those are kind of like the trips that change you the most in many ways. So, like my trip to France in 2019, I got to go to the FIFA World cup and watch the women play. And we. We booked on Airbnb, and it was so awesome. First of all, I got to go be a spectator and not a player, and it's just way less stressful.
Abby Wambach
It's way less stressful.
Unidentified Guest or Host
It's so wonderful. I got to be in the city. You know, like, we. We booked an Airbnb in Paris, and it was just, like, so beautiful to be able to, like, move around the city, use that as, like, our hub to go to the games outside of. Outside of the city center. And just to be in a different culture is just, like, one of my favorite things. So that. By locals. And for me, this is actually such a go to thing that I always do whenever I'm in a foreign city, a place that is not my home city, I look up all of the Airbnb experiences that are nearby.
I just did that with San Luis Obispo because I was like, oh, okay.
Carli Lloyd
What are some of the experiences they're offering.
Julie Foudy
And.
Unidentified Fan or Host
Oh, this is amazing.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Exactly. Airbnb the world is meant to meet.
Narrator or Producer
This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card is designed with your iPhone in mind, making it easy to get started and even easier to use. Take it from me, I've got one. Apple Card is a no fee credit card you can apply for right from the Wallet app on your iPhone. Apple Card has no annual fees, no
Unidentified Guest or Host
late fees, and no foreign transaction fees. No fees, period.
Narrator or Producer
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One of the things we love about this partnership is what Levi's actually stands for. Celebrating people out in the world who are shifting the status quo, whether in a big way or a small way, and bringing together originals from every walk of life, every background, every expression, and giving them the space to take risks and write their own stories, which we love with Levi's right there with them. So, again, the most exciting part, Levi's is teaming up with some of those most iconic federations, of course, the United States, Mexico, England, and France. And because it's not just about the game, it's about identity. It's about how fans show up, how they express themselves, and how they tell their story on and off the field.
This is going to be the uniform of the fandom.
Show the back of your jacket real quick. Yeah, I don't have that on the red one.
Abby Wambach
Look at this.
Unidentified Guest or Host
That's what I love about Levi's. It's not just about looking good. It's about being part of something bigger. Learn more@levi.com.
Abby Wambach
I have a question.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah?
Abby Wambach
What is your favorite Women's World cup story that you participated in? Like, what is your favorite World cup memory?
Carli Lloyd
I was just thinking this the other day. That's funny you asked because we were talking about in our last episode how much this tournament has touched us and touched the country. It feels like in a really positive, hopeful way. And I was thinking of 99 and that feeling. And I'm like, these guys must. They must be feeling it, right? Like, the guys have to be feeling it.
Abby Wambach
They have to be.
Carli Lloyd
And in 99, we were definitely feeling it. And as the tournament went on to your point, the energy and the enthusiasm around it, it's like David Letterman wants the whole team on. You know, we're doing this with the Late Show. We're doing this.
Abby Wambach
This is before the final.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah. And we were doing, like, little sketches for them, but, like, in a really balanced. Tony was amazing. Like this. We were like. Because our whole shtick was like, we love to have fun. And then we lock in. And we're not gonna overdo it, coach. Trust us that we can have, like, a fun shtick and do it, but we're gonna lock in. So one night we were out. And this is before the final, maybe before the semifinal. And, you know, like, it's getting to be a big deal. Cause everyone's talking about it, but. But we're out in. It must have been before the final, because I think we were in Pasadena, and we all went out to watch a movie one night, because we had actually a week between games that week, just that final week. And so we pull up to this movie, and there's a group of young girls who are crying, like, sobbing because they saw you. Well, we didn't know that. We thought, oh, what is wrong? What's happening here? So we go over to, like, are you guys okay? Like, what's. Who has assaulted you? Like, what is happening?
Julie Foudy
Who is assaulted?
Unidentified Fan or Host
Like, I literally was like, what is happening here?
Julie Foudy
Why are these women?
Carli Lloyd
They're teenagers. They're breaking down. And they. They couldn't talk because they were, like, crying, Crying. And then we realized it was because they had been following us and they recognized us and, like, to that level of affecting a fan. Like, we had seen it at practices and games a little bit, but, like, when you're that close to it and you see it, like, the impact you're having in the moment, we were like, holy shit. Okay, we're getting through. We're breaking through. And that's really, like, for us, like, winning. And, yes, we want to be winning, but. And we wanting to be changing culture. We wanted to be setting a standard. We wanted to show the world what was possible with women's sporting events. And that's when we were like, it's happening.
Abby Wambach
Yes, it's happening. Okay, what's yours? Well, favorite, I have two. I don't know if we have time for two, so I'll. Okay.
Carli Lloyd
It's a podcast. We got time.
Abby Wambach
Okay, so I'll do the goal. The goal.
Carli Lloyd
Oh, Brazil.
Abby Wambach
Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
Like, you were telling the Screw today. Yeah, this was good. Today you're gonna get a little behind the scenes here, pull the curtain back.
Abby Wambach
Okay, so you have to understand that we've been playing Dynaman for 60 Minutes.
Carli Lloyd
I know.
Abby Wambach
Rachel Bueller gets a red card.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah, I forgot that.
Abby Wambach
So Shannon, that had been that long. Yeah, for six. That's a long six, zero minutes. Shannon box is basically playing. Shannon and Christy Pierce Rampone are playing two position, three positions between the two of them. And the time is ticking, right? And the Brazilian team is wasting time. Wasting time in a way, like they're faking injury. They're bringing the stretcher on the stretcher. She, she gets on the stretcher and she's like, ah, you know, crying, whatever. And they like stretcher her off the field. As soon as they cross over to the sideline, she jumps off the stretcher, runs to the midfield stripe to come on the field. So the referee sees that this is happening and the reference, you know, we're in, we're in extra time, we're in overtime. Cuz we. The game ended in a tie.
Carli Lloyd
Yep.
Abby Wambach
Mar just scored in the first overtime. And so now we're in the second overtime period and the referee adds extra time to this extra time.
Carli Lloyd
Okay, do you know. Okay, keep going.
Julie Foudy
I won't interrupt chat, but this is
Carli Lloyd
so good because what Brazil had been doing, they added so much extra time
Julie Foudy
it allowed for your goal.
Abby Wambach
I know that's.
Carli Lloyd
And Ian Dark goes, isn't that poetic justice? Because we had been commenting like, God, come on, Brazil.
Julie Foudy
But then because they did that, you, they gave you enough time. Ah, see, it always comes back to biting you.
Abby Wambach
Poetic justice just happens to, to show up on our door and she looks like Christy Rampone getting the ball on her own goal line. I think she fouled the Brazilian to get the ball.
Carli Lloyd
I have to look at that again. I don't.
Abby Wambach
She passes it out to Ali Krieger, who takes a few touches forward, gets it to Carli Lloyd, whom in my mind at the time, I was very upset that she was taking so many touches across the middle of the field before she played a Topino.
Julie Foudy
Give me the ball.
Abby Wambach
Yeah, I was up top like Carly play it. Luckily she didn't listen to me because she played it to Megan out wide and Megan gets the ball and like something in me, something in me switches. She, she takes the touch and I see her look up and I was just like, oh no, she's coming. Yeah, she's playing that this is about to happen. I know she's getting the Ball to me. I don't know if it's gonna go in. I just know she's getting the ball to me. Now it's all up to me. Ball goes in the air, and instantly I have a. I have a bead on it. I'm like, I know exactly where this ball is going. And the whole game, this Brazilian defender had my number. She just. She marked me out of every free kick, out of everything. And so I. I baited her into a front. I, like, I kind of. I went like this and show. She took a step towards the ball, and then I drifted off because I knew it was going to go free. Goalkeeper comes out.
Carli Lloyd
You didn't even see her?
Julie Foudy
God, no.
Abby Wambach
No, I didn't see this. I didn't see the goalkeeper. I'm looking at the ball this way, and all I see is goalkeeper's hands.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
Missed the ball. And I was like, holy. In my mind, I know that the goal is wide open. I have a wide open header to tie this game.
Carli Lloyd
But, like, she almost trucked you, yo.
Abby Wambach
Yeah. Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
And you didn't even see her.
Abby Wambach
No, I had no idea. I was just eyes on. I was just. Ball, laser, laser focus on the ball. And then boom. And then instantly, ironically, Jules, I thought I missed. My stomach dropped because I was like. For whatever reason where I was, I thought the ball went to the right side of the post instead of the left side.
Julie Foudy
You thought it was side netting.
Abby Wambach
But then the whole crowd went wild, and I was like, well, I'm gonna go with what they think. And I start celebrating. And I remember kind of. I think I don't ever do. You know, I've never seen the ball hit the back of the net.
Julie Foudy
Oh, what?
Abby Wambach
Something happens to my brain.
Carli Lloyd
Like, any goal you've ever scored, I
Abby Wambach
cannot remember a ball hitting the back of the net. Like, I have, like, a moment of sheer exuberance that, like, there's something that's, like. My brain just shuts down.
Julie Foudy
No way.
Abby Wambach
Yeah. So I was having that blackout moment.
Julie Foudy
Yet when you warm up, you want the goalies to let it hit the back. One of your superstitions.
Abby Wambach
I know. Isn't this poetic?
Julie Foudy
That's weird.
Carli Lloyd
Poetic justice.
Abby Wambach
So the celebration part, you know, I say I black out after. Yeah, after I'm scoring that goal. And 11. Well, I literally can't. I can't see anything. I don't know what's happening. But all of a sudden, I come to consciousness, and I'm sliding on my knees, which I've never done before. Who said that? That Was going to be okay. What part of my brain was like, now it's time for a knee slide.
Julie Foudy
Thinking about it right now.
Abby Wambach
And as I'm coming into consciousness, the field at Dresden. In Dresden, there was a foot of grass beyond the sideline that I was. My knee sliding was towards. And after that foot of grass was concrete.
Julie Foudy
Oh, God.
Abby Wambach
And so all I saw was this concrete that I was headed towards. And I was like, oh, my gosh. And if you don't know, you should just go rewatch the goal. But then watch this celebration after I knee slide, pop up, slip. Very uncooly. I was like. And then the bench gets to me, and we celebrate. And maybe like 30 seconds later, because Megan was so freaking far away on her path, she's finally getting to the huddle.
Carli Lloyd
She's, like, across the field to come over.
Abby Wambach
She's finally getting to the celebration. And this person decides to jump very
Julie Foudy
high,
Abby Wambach
and her area is, like, right at my face. And all I could do was go like this. You know what I mean?
Julie Foudy
She had some hops, that pinot, and
Abby Wambach
she hit me so hard, like, with her area, my neck. And I was like, ow. It hurt me so bad. And then we had to keep going because, Julie, this wasn't to win. This was to tie. So then we had another minute.
Julie Foudy
Oh, my gosh. You still had pk.
Abby Wambach
And then we had to go into penalty kicks.
Julie Foudy
Yeah. And then you won. And it was poetic justice.
Abby Wambach
Fun fact.
Julie Foudy
Shouldn't have faked all the.
Abby Wambach
On the penalty kicks, we're wearing heart rate monitors. Dawn Scott, she does, like. She does presentations around, having been our strength and conditioning coach on the national team for years. And she shows this one stat all the time for me, talking about how mentality affects physiology. While I was standing on the ball for my penalty in that World cup game against Brazil, my heart rate was in the 90th percentile. And I'm just. And she's. And she's like. She, like, zooms in on my face. Look at how calm this person is. And my heart is just like. And I just bury. And I just bury it, and I go like this.
Carli Lloyd
You did the Carla.
Abby Wambach
Yeah, exactly.
Carli Lloyd
Oh, my gosh. Okay. So you didn't even think you scored.
Abby Wambach
No, I didn't.
Carli Lloyd
Okay. So the story I told today to the crowd was that in that extra time.
Julie Foudy
Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
In my ear, the producer had. Oh.
Abby Wambach
Because, folks, you may not know this. Julie was commentating.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah, sorry.
Abby Wambach
This game. I should have said that Gillian and Dark were commentating this game.
Carli Lloyd
I just got glitter all over me.
Julie Foudy
That's the best for my face paint.
Carli Lloyd
And I'm. I can hear them because it's now, like, the 120th minute.
Abby Wambach
Yes.
Carli Lloyd
We're almost. When it's about 120 in, and we've never lost in a quarterfinal before the United States. And I can hear. They had a. They had me. They call it all call. They had me on all call accidentally. So I can hear the truck talking about, like, the fact that they're gonna. Who they're gonna send home. What's gonna happen. They're planning for the United States to lose. And I remember going on talkback, and
Julie Foudy
I said, yo, I hear you, and stop it. Yes. Come on.
Unidentified Fan or Host
Oh, it's not done yet.
Abby Wambach
We got two minutes.
Unidentified Fan or Host
Yo.
Abby Wambach
Dare them.
Unidentified Fan or Host
How dare you?
Abby Wambach
Yes.
Julie Foudy
And. And Ian Dark kept looking at me like he was starting to sweat. He was like, what is happening? I'm like, we're good.
Carli Lloyd
We're good.
Julie Foudy
Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
God. Crazy. That's a good World Cup.
Abby Wambach
I remember they pulled me after the game. Hivetz pulled me. He's like, they want you up in the truck. So I came up.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
Because Mia was with you.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
On that commentating tour.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
And I remember your faces. I'll never forget your faces. And I'll never forget Mia's face, because I didn't know the gravity of it.
Carli Lloyd
Oh, my God.
Abby Wambach
I knew it was a big deal in the stadium, but I didn't know that. The gravity of it back home. The gravity of it from the rest of. I didn't have an idea. But Mia knew.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
In her bones.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
And she was just like this. She goes,
Julie Foudy
that's so Mia. I love her.
Abby Wambach
No words, just wow.
Julie Foudy
And with that, like, little smile like
Abby Wambach
that, too, I was like, that's the best compliment I've ever gotten from Mia. This is great. Honestly, that was actually one of the most thrilling things. And interestingly enough, after that game, our coach, Pia Sundaga, she brought us all together as a team. And I think this is the most fascinating thing that a coach has ever done. She. Because that night, our team went viral before viral was even a word.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah, I remember that.
Abby Wambach
Like, it exploded. Exploded back in the U.S. yeah. And the next morning, we had a meeting, and she went around. We sat in a big circle, and she said, okay, I want everybody to tell the story from their perspective and what they heard and what their family said and what they've seen. And so we went and we talked, and it was just like this. We just. Something big just happened. And then at the End of that meeting, she said, okay, now that's done, we move on to France.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Interesting.
Abby Wambach
And so I had chills.
Unidentified Fan or Host
Thanks.
Abby Wambach
You're giving me chills.
Julie Foudy
I thought you were gonna say she
Carli Lloyd
sat with her guitar, sang a song.
Abby Wambach
No, no. But then. Which people do. And here's the last part of the story.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
We end up getting the final and losing.
Carli Lloyd
This is in 2011, so heart wrenching
Abby Wambach
to Japan and penalties.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah. At least it was a good story. Great story.
Abby Wambach
Great story.
Carli Lloyd
Tsunami.
Narrator or Producer
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
However, when we return back to the country. Oh, I remember we fly to New York City because we're still gonna do a couple of things in New York City. Press wise, if you win, you go straight to New York City and you're booked for the week because we lost. We go straight to New York City, and we were booked for a couple days. And we are in the team bus and we're headed to the air to our hotel in New York City. And there's just, like, so much traffic. We're like a minute away from the hotel on the bus, but we can't get to the actual hotel. I'm like, what the hell is going on? Like, what is happening here? And as we, you know, 15, 20, 30 minutes, we're like sitting on the bus. I'm like, should we just get out, grab our bags, walk? We're so close. Yeah. Well, the entirety of the block that our hotel was on was completely covered with people because people found out where our hotel was.
Julie Foudy
Oh, shut up.
Abby Wambach
We had just lost the day before.
Unidentified Guest or Host
Wow.
Abby Wambach
We had just lost the World Cup. And so they were having, like, a little party outside of people in American red, white, and blue jerseys just welcoming us home as actual champions, you know, because, remember, the Japanese team won and their country had gone through a horrific tsunami, losing tons of their country folk. And I just remember being on the bus feeling sad that we lost, but so proud to be an American and fighting for this team that still gets celebrated even under the worst of circumstances where you lose in penalties.
Julie Foudy
Right.
Abby Wambach
So that's. Those are two crazy. Yeah. And I remember just all of us were, like, looking like, what's going on?
Carli Lloyd
Oh, wait, they're here for us.
Abby Wambach
They're here for us.
Carli Lloyd
That was like our 99 traffic story
Julie Foudy
for the opening game.
Carli Lloyd
Yeah.
Julie Foudy
Wait, what?
Unidentified Guest or Host
They're here for us?
Unidentified Fan or Host
Yeah.
Abby Wambach
You guys were late to your first
Carli Lloyd
game where the traffic.
Abby Wambach
They were. They were late to their first game. Metro, where was it?
Carli Lloyd
MetLife.
Abby Wambach
MetLife.
Julie Foudy
Oh, that's good.
Abby Wambach
Good times.
Carli Lloyd
Story times. All right, so see, Thursday.
Abby Wambach
Yeah.
Carli Lloyd
At the game.
Unidentified Guest or Host
For the men.
Carli Lloyd
For the boys.
Julie Foudy
Let's go. USA USA.
Carli Lloyd
All right, party people.
Abby Wambach
Wait, it's. It's not. Let's hear it for the boys. Let's hear it for the girls.
Unidentified Fan or Host
Let's hear it for the boys.
Abby Wambach
What is it?
Unidentified Fan or Host
Let's hear it for the boys.
Abby Wambach
I might. You know, it's hard for me because I switch up girls and boys a lot because, like, most of the time, it's like boys and I have to switch it to girls.
Carli Lloyd
Okay, USA it out for them. This is for them. We had the entire group do the
Julie Foudy
oosa cheer before the game, and it worked.
Abby Wambach
It was so fun. My voice is hoarse.
Carli Lloyd
I know. Me too.
Abby Wambach
All right, Jules. USA on three. One, two, three.
Unidentified Fan or Host
Boom.
Julie Foudy
We finally did it perfectly.
Narrator or Producer
Welcome to the Party is an independent production brought to you by Treat Media. Treat Media makes art for humans who
Unidentified Guest or Host
want to stay human.
Narrator or Producer
Initial Digital is our production partner, and you can also watch our full conversations on the welcome to the party YouTube
Unidentified Guest or Host
channel and follow us at welcome to
Narrator or Producer
the Party show on Instagram and TikTok.
Abby Wambach
Thanks for listening.
Host: Treat Media
Guests: Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy, Carli Lloyd
This energetic episode bursts with celebration and reflection as soccer legends Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy, and Carli Lloyd get together to react live to the US National Teams' recent World Cup win. Partying with fans at an Airbnb Watch Party, they dive into the experience of watching alongside diehard supporters, the unifying spirit of communal sports, and share behind-the-scenes stories from their decorated careers in women’s soccer. The episode fluidly jumps between spirited banter, technical analysis, and emotional storytelling—anchored by the hosts' sense of camaraderie, humor, and enduring passion for the women’s sports community.
The hosts and guests maintain a lively, conversational, and humorous tone throughout. Stories are candid, sometimes self-deprecating, and always genuine—exuding passion and joy for soccer. Their camaraderie and sisterhood shine, making sports analysis and fan community feel accessible and inviting.
This episode is a joyous, nostalgia-rich celebration of both the present and past of US soccer, packed with pro insights, laughter, and the uplifting reminder that the power of sport lies as much in who we watch with as in the results on the scoreboard. Whether you’re a dedicated fan or a community newcomer, this World Cup party has a seat at the table for you.
Closing rally: