Anything less than Olympics final for USWNT would be 'failure,' Fox Sports' Stu Holden says

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When it comes to the United States national soccer teams, the emphasis has been on the men as they head into a crucial summer between Copa América and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. 

Meanwhile, it's expected the women's national team will have an easier time in Paris as one of the favorites to capture gold in the Olympics.

But after a failed trip to Australia in the Women's World Cup last year as well as a group stage match loss to Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup this year, former USWNT member Carli Lloyd was blunt about how the U.S. stacks up against the rest of the competition these days. 

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Stu Holden (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images/File)

"Yes the whole world has caught up… but I actually hate when people say that because the #USWNT started to regress at 2020 Olympics and have gone backwards," Lloyd wrote in a social media post in February. ".. now they have to rebuild and claw and climb their way back up #NoOneFearsTheUswntanymore." 

Former men's national team member and current Fox Sports soccer analyst Stu Holden couldn't agree with Lloyd more. 

"You look at the soccer Spain played in the World Cup was some of the best I’ve seen," Holden told Fox News Digital while discussing his love for Lotto, the Italian premier sports and lifestyle brand. "England played some wonderful soccer in the Women’s World Cup last summer.

"These teams have taken the game seriously now, and they’ve invested significantly in their infrastructure, youth development, and it’s all starting to now pay off years and years later. They saw the potential for the sport and young girls that wanted to play and