United States goalkeeper Hope Solo was the target of some teasing at the hands of Brazilian soccer fans on Wednesday as her team beat New Zealand 2-0 in their opening match of their quest for a fourth successive Olympic gold.
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Solo later downplayed the picture but the Rio Games, the first in South America, have been beset by concerns over an outbreak of the virus, which can cause birth defects in newborn children.
Despite a proliferation of prophylactics, many are still concerned about the threat of the Zika virus – which can be sexually transmitted – during the upcoming Olympic games in Rio.
And the fans didn’t like it. Listen as they yell “ZIKA!” to Solo when she gets rid of the ball.
The backlash reportedly came as a response to the 35-year-old’s July tweets, in which she joked about her preparations for the Summer Olympics, sharing a photo of herself in a mosquito net and one of excessive amounts of bug repellent, as she took precautions in dealing with the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
It’s certainly terrible to wish a harmful disease upon someone, so there’s little doubt the fans were well over the line with such a chant. Ellis sent on Crystal Dunn as a sub in the 51st minute to get young Mallory Pugh some rest, Lindsay Horan a dozen minutes later to bring off Morgan Brian, and Christen Press not quite 10 minutes from the end so Alex Morgan didn’t have to go the full 90.
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Solo was asked after the game about it, and she said it didn’t bother her, saying she would prefer that than silence. “It’s a little bit unfortunate because I think the American media has been really tough on people of Brazil”. They also booed and whistled when she had the ball.
