the World Cup winner who is known as " Carli Lloyd "said on Tuesday she had been practicing for a sought after future in the NFL and was not fazed about the idea of playing alongside the men.
"Obviously there's 300-pound men on hold yet it's sort of like taking a penalty shot: you're not stressed over the manager, you're stressed over just placing the ball in the back of the net," Lloyd, co-captain of the United States team that won the soccer World Cup in July, told Reuters.
"You're focused on the procedure, you're focused on getting the show on the road up and over and in the middle of the uprights, your focus isn't necessarily on the individuals before you."
The 37-year-old forward said she had successfully practiced in pads and a cap, focusing on redundancy and strategy.
She sparked intense interest in August when a video of her kicking a 55-yard field goal at a Philadelphia Eagles practice turned into a web sensation on the web.
Lloyd said a fourth excursion to the Olympics, in Tokyo one year from now, was her top need however the planning of the Games would allow her to also attempt to realize her hopes of becoming the first woman to be drafted to a NFL team.
"Olympics is done in August, preseason in football is around August," said Lloyd at the revealing of a plaque in Manhattan commemorating her team's post-World Cup tickertape parade. "We'll see – - you never know."
Lauren Silberman became the first woman to enter the NFL combine in 2013, after the league announced that it would allow ladies to participate from 2012, however the future kicker was not drafted to a team and her lackluster performance at the tryout was broadly censured.
Lloyd's interest coincides with a decrease in performance among kickers, with Dallas Cowboys' Brett Maher the most late player to get cut after missing 10 field goal chances this season.