It suspended her for two games. Maybe that was the fair thing to do. TV viewership numbers from the Olympics and World Cup confirm this. Truly embarrassing handling of the domestic violence issue by US Soccer, now here we are. But they won. They’re moving on.
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Hope Solo is a distraction U.S. Soccer can no longer afford. She angered Brazilians before the Olympics with some flippant tweets about the country’s Zika crisis.
After praising her teammates for tying the game in the 75th minute, saying it “showed a lot of heart”, she ripped into the Swedes, saying they had played like “a bunch of cowards”.
Both teams had goals called back late in extra time and the contest went to a penalty shootout, which started badly for the USA as Swedish keeper Hedvig Lindahl stopped a less-than-potent shot from Morgan. “To call them cowards for playing a tactically smart game is ridiculous and classless, and it really doesn’t represent the house that we built with the USA team”. “I strongly and firmly believe that”.
Ah, the audacity of Hope.
Some see a team’s willingness to defend and not attack at all costs as “anti-soccer”, but the idea that there is a right way to play soccer or that a commitment to defending is cowardly is ridiculous.
Two courageous teams – haha, very amusing. Then the gloves jokes happened, and we’re so glad they did.. So Solo’s criticism might have been directed more at her former coach than the Swedish team.
But the world’s number one ranked side failed to break down Sundhage’s well-organised Swedes in extra-time, who also had a perfectly good goal from Lotta Schelin wrongly ruled out for offside in the final minutes.
She went on to blister Sweden for playing conservatively and refusing to open its passing game up.
It was a calculated choice, risk vs. reward, yin vs. yang.
After winning four gold medals at the Rio de Janeiro Games and looking unbeatable, Phelps finally ran out of steam in what was the final individual race of his career – unless he decides to come out of retirement again. There was Gabby Douglas not standing at attention during the anthem at gymnastics. Her incendiary remarks went viral on social media within an hour after the match.
And maybe the storm off the Cape of Bad Hope will, too.
Solo and Sundhage have a bit of history.
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The five-time World Player of the Year was on her knees in tears of relief seconds later, though, as Barbara parried Katrina Gorry’s spot-kick to keep the hosts alive. She’s also courted near-constant controversy, from her arrest in 2014 following a brawl involving her nephew and sister to her suspension after her husband was charged with DUI while driving a national team van to … oh, we’ve been over this all before.
