2-1 Sweden. Solo finally stopped a shot in the third round, but when Christen Press sailed the fifth US penalty kick over the goal, Solo needed to stop Lisa Dahlkvist to extend the shootout.
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Each team had a goal disallowed in the extra-time period, one by Carli Lloyd for the United States and another by Lotta Schelin for Sweden.
Instead, the favored USA women’s soccer team heads home from Brazil without an Olympic medal for the first time. After regulation time and two, 10-minute halves of overtime, the game was forced into penalty kicks where Sweden won 4-3.
After the U.S. Women’s National Team fell to Sweden in the quarterfinals in a stunning loss, Solo immediately went on the attack.
“I was really optimistic”. “But it just wasn’t our day”.
But, during this 2016 Summer Olympics, Sweden, headed by former United States coach Pia Sundhage, proved more powerful in the tiebreaker to hold a semifinal spot against Australia or Brazil on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro, according to The Washington Post. Canada, the bronze medalists from London in 2012, will play Germany in Belo Horizonte.
It’s beyond time for the U.S.to move on.
The media-savvy 35-year-old has a record of controversy and she was suspended from the U.S. team for 30 days over an incident during a training camp in January last year.
“The best team did not win today”, Solo said in quotes reported by the BBC.
Solo was also slammed by USA media including the Washington Post, where a headline read: “Hope Solo, tolerated and excused in victory, exposes herself in Olympic defeat”.
The United States were the better team throughout but Alex Morgan and Christen Press missed penalties after the game ended 1-1 after extra time. “I thought we had many opportunities on goal”, she said.
Asked to clarify, she said: “Sweden dropped off”. They didn’t want to pass the ball around.
Still, no matter who’s available and who isn’t, the United States has long sustained excellence through the passing generations, able to rely on the world’s greatest pipeline of female soccer talent for more than 30 years.
But Sweden brushed Solo’s comments off. Coach Pia Sundhage said: “I don’t give a crap”. Losing sucks. I’m really bad at it.
Rafael Nadal won his second Olympic Games gold medal on Friday and took a step closer to a third by reaching the Rio singles semi-final. The U.S. won silver in 2000.
Another five penalties were scored before Barbara produced more heroics to turn Alanna Kennedy’s shot behind for a 7-6 win and spark wild scenes of celebration.
Tied after three rounds in the shootout of Friday’s match, Sweden captain Caroline Seger shot past Solo. It was the US women’s first exit from a major global competition before the semifinals.
Solo’s sore, hot-head remarks were personally aimed at Sundhage, who has made it clear just how much she had to put up with in Solo as the USA coach.
Pia Sundhage, the coach of the Swedish team, used to be the head coach of the US team. Exactly what they wanted and exactly what their game plan was.
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“I think we did, because to say we didn’t is to say it doesn’t exist, and we did feel that”, she said.
