For all of the teams hoping to end the USA’s dominance of women’s Olympic football, there is one person they will hope not to see coming down the tunnel at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio on 19 August 2016, the day of the final: Carli Lloyd. The attacking midfielder has made a habit of scoring vital goals on big occasions. The extra-time winner in the USA’s 1-0 win over Brazil in the Beijing 2008 final. Both goals in the 2-1 win over Japan at London 2012. And a stunning hat-trick in this year’s World Cup final, in which the USA beat Japan 5-2.

So, what does the 33-year-old put her big-game mindset down to? “I think it’s just the years of preparation and the mentality of being a fierce competitor, of digging deep when everything is on the line,” she told rio2016.com in an exclusive interview. “It’s years and years of hard work, both on the physical side and the mental side. It’s what I’ve always done and what I want to continue to do.”

Lloyd’s only significant major tournament disappointment came at the 2011 World Cup final, when she missed a penalty in the shoot-out loss to Japan. She has since avenged that defeat twice: at London and this year in Canada, from where she left with the player of the tournament and goal of the tournament awards, the latter for an incredible shot from the half-way line that put the USA 3-0 up in 16 minutes (see here).  “That was definitely my best goal, especially coming in a World Cup final,” Lloyd said.

Team spirit: Lloyd (right) is mobbed by her team-mates after scoring against Japan in this year's final (Getty Images/Jeff Vinnick)

Lloyd, who grew up in the working class New Jersey town of Delran, playing football on the local pitch with male Turkish immigrant players, will enjoy home advantage when the USA bid to qualify for Rio 2016 in February. The CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship will be played in Dallas and Houston, one of the venues being the BBVA Compass Stadium, home of Lloyd’s club, the Houston Dash.

“We’re still riding the World Cup wave, we have a 10-game victory tour with the national team that will take us to the end of the year, but I would say that from the start of January we will definitely be 100 per cent focused on qualifying for the Olympics and getting ready for that,” Lloyd said. “There is still lots of room for improvement.”  

That last comment will be worrying for the USA’s rivals – who include Brazil, Japan, Germany, Norway and France – for medals in Rio. The Americans have won the last three Olympic gold medals and four of the five Olympic tournaments that have been staged, taking silver at Sydney 2000.

“We pride ourselves in winning,” said Lloyd. “We never go to a competition trying to come second. We know it’s going to be hard, we’ve faced lots of challenges and the journey hasn’t always been easy, but we’re able to stay together as a unit. That’s what makes us special. Even though we’ve won the last three, we know it’ll never be easy. Teams are going to be coming after us.”

And another one: Lloyd celebrates her first goal in the London 2012 Olympic Games final (Photo: Getty Images/Ronald Martinez)

Lloyd says she is always asked which is more important – the World Cup or Olympic Games – but says each tournament is different. “The Olympics are huge,” she said. “To play in the World Cup and win is every footballer’s dream, it’s purely soccer. But for the Olympics, the whole world is captivated. The whole world turns on its television and supports their country, whether they are soccer fans or not. And there are not too many people who can say they have been an Olympic champion.”

Lloyd can say she has been, twice, and a third is on her radar. “It would be a tremendous accomplishment. I would love to add a third, it would be a dream come true. But you cannot get too focused on the end result. You have to focus on the whole year and the preparations. From this point on you have to do all the right things and if you do that, things tend to fall into place.”

Lloyd is expecting Rio “to be a fantastic Olympic Games” having heard good things within the football world about the men’s World Cup that was staged in Brazil last year. She will be 34 years old and if she can win a third gold medal, many would think that would be a good moment to retire. Not a chance.

“I’m feeling pretty good and another cycle of World Cup and Olympics is definitely in my plans,” she said. “I’m going to keep going until I can’t go any more. I would say there is a 95 per cent chance I will be available for Tokyo (the 2020 Olympic Games).”

Check out the first three interviews in this series, with Chad le Clos, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Sardar Singh.