Carli Lloyd has received an offer from an NFL team to launch a preparatory match

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Carli Lloyd has been seen offering the chance to mark history by becoming the first woman to participate in a National Football League pre-season game, coach James Galanis told FOX Sports on Monday.

Lloyd was approached by several NFL teams after a video of his goal, a 55-yard pass at a training session for the Philadelphia Eagles last week became viral. According to Galanis, one of these teams has presented football legend Lloyd with the opportunity to be part of the lineup and see the real game time.

However, while Lloyd was really interested, Thursday's match featured a match of the US Women's National Team in Portugal. Galanis refused to name the football team in question. Each of the 32 NFL teams will play their final pre-season game on Thursday.

"Today, she has received another call from another NFL team," Galanis told me during a telephone conversation Monday. "The one who called today, I do not want to say who it is, was ready to put her on the list for their next game. They were willing to put it on the list."

Galanis continued:She was told (she could) play Thursday, the NFL gamebut she plays Thursday with the national team, so that was the conflict. "

It is likely that Lloyd, who was not available to comment at the time of going to press, would have refused this opportunity anyway, due to the limited preparation time. However, the prospect of becoming a true pioneer of sports equality between men and women is attracting keen interest.

"Knowing Carli, I do not think she would just want to do it," added Galanis. "She would need a few weeks of training to be comfortable and acclimatized. But things have degenerated and it's real.

"I think Carli is perfectly suited for a job like this. She likes pressure. She has one of the toughest kicks in the world for women. She is excellent at long distance balls, she showed that by scoring a goal just past the midline in a World Cup final, and she is really in tune with the mechanics. She would be an ideal candidate.

"We are thinking about what it would do for the sport itself, all sports, at all levels. She would be the first woman to really play with men and what that would do for the whole of equality (problem).

"We certainly think about it. Knowing Carli is why she's attractive to her because it's a challenge. That's what makes Carli happy, it's the next thing she can conquer. That's why we had half a dozen conversations about it in less than a week."

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Galanis, the football guru who served as a mentor to Lloyd in addition to his duties as director of the Universal Soccer Academy, said the NFL team that had offered a position in the roster had asked him to contact her immediately if she decides to become serious. to try football.

Lloyd is arguably the most technically advanced football striker that women's football has ever seen and is also a long-time fan. In 2015, his extraordinary hat trick in the first 15 minutes of the final led the United States to the glory of the World Cup. She also won gold at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, scoring the decisive goal in both finals.

At 37, it's unclear if she will continue in football until the Tokyo Olympics next summer. At the triumph of the American team at this year's World Cup, she had only one role to play.

Last week, she did not think that the invitation to the Eagles camp would have such a potentially decisive impact. She accompanied Galanis's son, Preston, to meet the players and treated the experience as a fun day.

However, his thrown field goal – though featuring a few extra steps compared to a normal NFL match – quickly picked up speed on social media and sparked a conversation about when a woman could play in the NFL .

Galanis, who has worked with her throughout a career that has seen her twice named the world's best player, thinks she would be perfect.

"Mentally, someone has to be successful and excels under pressure and can withstand the pressure of the crowd and the situation itself," Galanis said. "Where they possibly score with a potentially winning kick, and the pressure of knowing that you have all those players coming to you to choke the ball.

"Throwing goals in the field is good mechanics. If you are an athlete in harmony with your body, whether you are a man or a woman, if you have the right, there is no reason you can not score a goal.

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