USWNT co-captain Lindsey Horan apologizes for comments about American soccer fans

United States women’s national team co-captain Lindsey Horan apologized Thursday for comments she made in a story published Feb. 1 in The Athletic, by which Horan stated most American soccer fans “aren’t smart.”

Horan stated these comments have been “poorly expressed” in a USWNT press convention Thursday upfront of the crew’s participation within the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, which begins subsequent week.

“When I think about our fans, I love them so much, this team loves them so much, and I can’t begin to explain how much they mean to us,” Horan stated. “Every time we step out and train, every time we step out and play in games, we play for you [fans], and you are an inspiration. You are a motivation, and seeing you wearing our jerseys and seeing you screaming our names and chanting U-S-A, that’s what we play for.”

Horan acquired virtually prompt backlash for her comments made to The Athletic for a profile on the 29-year-old midfielder, which occurred months after the USWNT confronted intense criticism following its spherical of 16 exit from the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Though Horan scored a vital header in opposition to The Netherlands within the group stage to assist the USWNT advance to the knockout stage, her first tenure as co-captain alongside star striker Alex Morgan led to disappointment after Sweden narrowly edged the two-time defending World Cup champions by way of penalty kicks within the spherical of 16.

“American soccer fans, most of them aren’t smart,” Horan instructed The Athletic. “They don’t know the game. They don’t understand. (But) it’s getting better and better. … I’m gonna piss off some people, but the game is growing in the U.S. People are more and more knowledgeable, but so much of the time people take what the commentators say, right? My mom does it!”

One of these commentators, FOX Sports lead soccer analyst and host of the State of the Union podcast Alexi Lalas, pushed again on Horan’s comments as they went viral.

Horan additionally stated Thursday that she believes American soccer tradition, which she in contrast unfavorably to that of France in The Athletic interview, is “changing and growing so much in such a positive way.” (Horan at the moment performs for French membership Lyon after a six-year stint within the National Women’s Soccer League.)

“For me to be able to experience that firsthand playing for this U.S. women’s national team, but also in the NWSL and for the Portland Thorns is one thing simply so wonderful,” Horan stated. “It is my absolute honor, and I will always say that, to be able to put on this crest every single day, to be in this environment and to go out and play in front of our fans and represent this national team. It is my greatest honor.”

Horan stated she desires the USWNT and its tactical potential on the pitch talked about the identical method high European males’s and ladies’s membership groups are talked about, and her comments got here out of a need to see that occur. 

Horan and the United States now try and get a recent begin in that division with the approaching arrival of embellished Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes as the following USWNT head coach on the finish of Chelsea’s ongoing membership season. Hayes replaces Vlatko Andonovski, who was fired after the United States’ disappointing World Cup efficiency.

FOX Sports’ Laken Litman contributed to this story.

[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]