Why Did Carli Lloyd Give Abby Wambach Her Captain’s Armband? [PHOTOS]

Abby Wambach has long been vocal about throwing in the towel after this year's World Cup. Carli Lloyd unexpectedly handed her captain's armband to Wambach once the latter stepped out on the field for her last match.

A photo posted by U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) on Jul 6, 2015 at 7:16pm PDT

On the 79^th minute, Abby Wambach stepped on the field to substitute for Tobin Heath. The U.S. Women's National Team already had a 5-2 lead against Japan, and that's also when Carli Lloyd handed her captain's armband to Wambach.

Although Lloyd wasn't officially given the captain role, Carli embraced the position as Abby Wambach and Christie Rampone did not play so much on the field during the game.

A photo posted by U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) on Jul 6, 2015 at 10:31am PDT

In an honorable fashion, Lloyd wanted Wambach to finish the match and her final tournament as captain of the team.

Lloyd explains, "It's been an honor for me to take on that leadership, to wear the armband. I have no regrets ever when I put that thing on, put on the jersey."

"When Abby has com on in a few of the games it's just a little crazy to switch the armband, but I wanted to make sure she put the armband on because she deserves it," Carli continued.

When you hold it in your arms, you know it's real. #WorldCupChampions #ThreeStars

A photo posted by U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) on Jul 5, 2015 at 8:00pm PDT

Carli Lloyd added, "She has been legendary to this team. She's been unbelievable. I'm so thankful I can call her my friend, my teammate, and I'm just so proud her last World Cup she could go out strong."

The gesture comes as powerful signification of the history of the two players together. In fact, Wambach wasn't even aware that Lloyd would do such a thing and was definitely heart-warmed by the action.

#Euphoria A photo posted by U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) on Jul 5, 2015 at 7:05pm PDT

"She insisted and I thought it was really special. A little bit of a reverse passing of the torch, so to speak. Carli's got this team," said Wambach.

But it didn't stop there. After the final whistle blew (and probably after that smooch with her wife), Wambach also handed the armband to Rampone - the only player in this year's team who was also on the 1999 championship team.

Love family time!! @sarahhuffman14 #goodluckcharms

A photo posted by @abbywambach on Jun 17, 2015 at 11:29pm PDT

"She's my captain, always will be. I think it's pretty symbolic that a team was able to come away with a world championship wants to pass off the attention from one person to another," Wambach explained.

"Carli hands it to me, I hand it to Christie. That is what take to win a world championship," she continued.

There's just so much love and mutual respect on this team, there's no wonder they won the World Cup Championship. Indeed, #LoveWins in more ways than one.