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Women's World Cup: Sundhage's comments add hype to showdown

Critical comments by Sweden coach Pia Sundhage have added drama to the Americans' clash with their former boss Friday.

WINNIPEG, Canada — It's a good thing U.S. midfielder Carli Lloyd has, as she said, gone "off the grid" for the entire month of the Women's World Cup. If Lloyd was reading newspapers or scrolling the Internet or clicking through Twitter, she might come across a mind-rattling comment made by her former U.S. national team coach.

"Carli Lloyd was a challenge to coach, by the way. When she felt that we had faith in her, she could be one of the best players,'' Pia Sundhage said in a story published Wednesday by The New York Times.