In an interview with The Athletic on Feb. 1, Horan said, “American soccer fans, most of them aren’t smart. They don’t know the game. They don’t understand. [But] it’s getting better and better.”

She then continued, using her mom as an example.

“I’m gonna piss off some people, but the game is growing in the U.S. People are more and more knowledgeable, but so much of the time people take what the commentators say, right?” she said. “My mom does it! My mom says, ‘Julie Foudy said you had such a good game!’ And I’m here, just going, ‘I was f—ing s— today.’”

In her apology, which she issued during a press call ahead of the Concacaf W Gold Cup, Horan said that her remarks were “poorly expressed” and emphasized her love for USWNT fans.

“First and foremost, I would like to apologize to our fans,” Horan said. “Some of my comments were poorly expressed and there was a massive lesson learned for me.

“When I think about our fans, I love them so much. This team loves them so much and I can’t begin to explain how much they mean to us. Every time we step out and train, every time we step out and play in games, we play for you guys and you are our inspiration, you are our motivation and seeing you wearing our jerseys and seeing you screaming our names and chanting ‘USA,’ that’s what we play for.

“And I never wanted to take any of that away. And continuing on that, the soccer culture in America is changing and growing so much in such a positive way.”

Horan said that she reflected on the comments, as well as the reaction to them, which compelled her to apologize. When thinking about what she intended, Horan opted to take a look at the larger picture.

“I want people to talk about how incredible we are on the ball, the possession, the style of play, the technical ability, the tactical changes mid-game, you know, these type of things that maybe I’ve viewed when I do see some of the best teams in the world. And so maybe that was in my head thinking of our team, and what I want people to say about them on the field.”