With almost every touch of the ball, the Nike-sponsored athlete was greeted with loud boos from the crowd, and by the end of the match, the Brazilian crowd continually shouted “Zika” in unison whenever Solo released the ball from her possession.
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Solo, who was making her 200th appearance for the U.S.
Numerous worldwide media reports prior to the Opening Ceremony have focused on the country’s mismanagement of stadiums, water pollution, and the Zika virus outbreak which reportedly has caused some athletes to boycott the games altogether.
“Zika!” during her team’s game against New Zealand to open up their Olympic play. Solo ultimately didn’t follow through on that threat, but she did make a rather public show of her concerns. And on Wednesday night, Brazil bashed the US soccer star right back.
Having said that….are you really sure you want to be using the ZIKA VIRUS as a selling point of your country? The men aren’t even at the games because they didn’t qualify, because they suck, so it’s total BS they get paid more in the first place.
To her credit, she held no ill will toward the supporters, downright praising them after the game saying, “I’m glad the fans had fun”. She has a total score of 12 goals this year. She tweeted an image of herself wearing mosquito netting and a hat.
“I think the crowd only gets going when Hope has the ball”, Lloyd said about the atmosphere.
“They are very physical team and technically they were strong and they are strong throughout”, said Nayler. Following her time alongside many US soccer pioneers, Solo would outlast a young teammate named Abby Wambach, who burst onto the scene in 2001 on the way to a world record 184 global goals. “Zika!” simply because she expressed concern and joked about catching the virus before she landed in Rio.
In the minds of fans at the match, however, this victory was hollow.
The United States will play Colombia on August 9 to open up their schedule in earnest.
Gu Yasha and Tan Ruyin each scored and China defeated South Africa 2-0 in Rio de Janeiro.
Those comments, though, may been too little, too late for Brazilian fans in attendance Wednesday.
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Five-time FIFA World Player of the Year Marta scored twice for the Brazilians.
