Hope Solo, the goalkeeper for the reigning Olympic champion U.S. Women’s National Team, has been just a little outspoken about the Zika virus in the lead-up to the Games.
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Goalie Hope Solo warms up before the USA team’s opening game of the 2016 Olympics against New Zealand in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
The crowd of almost 10,000 fans at the 60,000-capacity Mineirao Stadium jeered the goalkeeper with references to the virus that has kept away many athletes of the Rio Games.
“I’m glad the fans had fun”, she told reporters after the U.S.’s 2-0 win.
After Wednesday’s match, Solo said she heard the fans chanting at her, but couldn’t understand what they were saying.
Since the 2012 Olympics, Solo’s faced domestic violence allegations that haven’t gone to trial.
It seems too simplistic to suggest that teams with the talent and desire to win a World Cup would lack the motivation or ability to add to their trophy cabinet a year later.
Brazil says the arrival of winter has greatly reduced the threat, a thought also expressed previously by Syracuse University basketball coach Jim Boeheim, who is an assistant for Team USA basketball. There had initially been much disappointment among those at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic games that they could not play the “Pokemon Go” game, but as of Wednesday the creatures are popping up everywhere.
“The first image showed Solo wearing a mosquito-net face mask and scarf while clutching a giant bottle of insect repellent with the hashtags “#zikaproof” and “#RoadToRio”.
The comment came after indicating, at the beginning, that she might cancel the trip to Brazil over worries about the mosquito-borne Zika virus, reported the Washington Post. Morgan Brian sent a clinical pass into the box and hit the fast-advancing Morgan, who made no mistake with a low left-foot drive that beat goalkeeper Erin Nayler.
The chants presumably stem from Solo’s social media posts in July showing her preparations for Brazil amid the Zika outbreak.
“I do not usually understand what happens around the stadium, because I am very focused on the game”, she said. “I do know that it’s spreading and they don’t really have a vaccination to treat it, so it’s definitely worrisome”.
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“I spoke to them on the phone with my husband as well, and we got to a point where we asked enough questions”.
