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, in which Horan said most American soccer fans “aren’t smart.”

Horan said those comments were “poorly expressed” in a USWNT press conference Thursday in advance of the team’s participation in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, which begins next 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 said. “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 received almost instant backlash for her comments made to The Athletic for a profile on the 29-year-old midfielder, which took place months after the USWNT faced intense criticism following its round of 16 exit from the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Though Horan scored a crucial header against The Netherlands in the group stage to help the USWNT advance to the knockout stage, her first tenure as co-captain alongside star striker Alex Morgan ended in disappointment after Sweden narrowly edged the two-time defending World Cup champions via penalty kicks in the round of 16.

“American soccer fans, most of them aren’t smart,” Horan told 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 those commentators, FOX Sports lead soccer analyst and host of the State of the Union podcast Alexi Lalas, pushed back on Horan’s comments as they went viral.

Horan also said Thursday that she believes American soccer culture, which she compared unfavorably to that of France in The Athletic interview, is “changing and growing so much in such a positive way.” (Horan currently plays for French club Lyon after a six-year stint in 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 something just so amazing,” Horan said. “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 said she wants the USWNT and its tactical ability on the pitch talked about the same way top European men’s and women’s club teams are talked about, and her comments came out of a desire to see that happen.

Horan and the United States now attempt to get a fresh start in that department with the impending arrival of decorated Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes as the next USWNT head coach at the end of Chelsea’s ongoing club season. Hayes replaces Vlatko Andonovski, who was fired after the United States’ disappointing World Cup performance.

FOX Sports’ Laken Litman contributed to this story.

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