Lindsey Horan, Megan Rapinoe ‘proud’ of team despite Women's World Cup elimination

First and foremost, I'm very proud of this team. I'm proud of the way we changed our game going into this one against a really tough opponent. One that's always given us such a battle. We came out and we controlled the entire game. We played like ourselves. We played with freedom, patience, confidence. All those things, it's like you can't really ask for anything else. Obviously, we want the ball to go to the back of the net. Didn't happen for us today, but we created those chances and my gosh, it was fun to play. That's what we were missing so much, the joy, the football. This is football. We go into penalties and it sucks. Honestly, it's so cruel and it is what it is. You just have to look and you got to be proud of every single player that stepped up and took a penalty. I thought back to Champions League. We went out and I was the one that missed the final PK. This happens to some of the best players in the world. This happens to some of the best teams in the world. This is football. Penalties are missed. You can play the best game of your life and you have to go into pens and it is what it is. The U.S. never wants to go out this early. We want to win. There's just not much else to say. I think for me, it was a proud moment seeing this team and the way that we played and just the confidence that we had in this game. Yeah, sad. I'm really proud of the group though. I thought we played so well today. We had so much, not just control of the game, but joy in the game. You could see players able to express themselves and really play the way that we wanted to. You got to score goals, whether it's in the penalty shootout or in the run of play. We just didn't have enough of that today. This is the cruel part of our beautiful game. Overall, really proud of the group. Obviously, it's such a young group. So many players first won. Obviously, they'll be back next time. I know this will motivate everyone moving forward. It's kind of surreal a little bit. It doesn't quite feel real. Obviously, I know that this is never going to happen again. I just feel thankful and grateful for all that I've been able to do and for how long. I've been to so many finals and won finals. I've been in the biggest games. I don't think this diminishes that at all. This is just one more piece of the puzzle. I wish it was another golden piece, but life doesn't work that way. Still grateful for this. It's been an amazing journey. This group is incredible. I can't wait to watch them in the future. The NBC News app.