Lindsey Horan spent part of Thursday apologizing to American soccer fans for her comments over their knowledge — or lack thereof — of the beautiful game in a recent interview with The Athletic.
While Horan acknowledged in the Feb. 1 article that she was going to “piss off some people,” she still said most U.S. fans “aren’t smart.”
But it appeared the ensuing pushback was too much for the U.S. Women’s National Team captain, and she walked them back during a news conference ahead of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup.
“First and foremost, I would like to apologize to our fans,” Horan said, according to ESPN. “Some of my comments were poorly expressed and there was a massive lesson learned for me. 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.
“Every time we step out and train, every time we step out and play in games, we play for you guys and you are our inspiration, you are our motivation and seeing you wearing our jerseys and seeing you screaming our names and chanting ‘USA,’ that’s what we play for.”
Horan’s comments garnered significant attention and added to some of the criticism that the USWNT has faced since it was bounced from the 2023 Women’s World Cup in the round of 16.
It was their earliest exit in program history.
“The last thing I ever wanted to do was to offend anyone in that manner. So again, I deeply, deeply apologize,” she added.
There has been a growing disconnect between the national team and the commentators that cover the sport, which notably includes former national men’s and women’s players Alexi Lalas and Carli Lloyd.
Horan’s previous comments reflected that as well.
“People are more and more knowledgeable, but so much of the time people take what the commentators say, right?” she told The Athletic earlier this month. “My mom does it! My mom says, ‘Julie Foudy [a commentator and former USWNT midfielder] said you had such a good game!’ And I’m here just going, ‘I was f–king s— today.”
Horan told reporters Thursday that she had changed her tune after she reflected on her opinion of her own comments.
“Also me wanting to express how much the fans just mean to me personally. And again, not wanting to take anything away from that. So I think that was just something always within me that I wanted to do,” she said about the reasoning for her apology.
