Goalkeeper Hope Solo is one of the most recognisable stars in American sport, and after her side lost on penalties to Sweden, she unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse directed at the victors.
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The outspoken Solo, rather than paying tribute to the gritty Swedish squad, denounced the winners as a “bunch of cowards”.
“I thought that we played a courageous game”, Solo told reporters after the shocking defeat. “Sometimes it’s just finding a way to win that matters most, and [Friday] Sweden found a way to beat us”. I think it was very cowardly. “We came back from a goal down”. Solo could not hide her disappointment in the result and said she did not think the best team won the match. “I’m going to Rio, she’s going home”. “I think we showed a lot of heart”, Solo told Wahl.
“The best teams in the world have to deal with inferior opposition that bunkers in and defends”, former US men’s captain Alexei Lalas said in a tweet.
And it did not come without a large dose of bitterness, dished out by none other than lightning-rod goaltender Hope Solo.
She had been the target of derision from Brazilian fans since the Olympics had begun, and now she needed to rescue her teammates, who had quickly fallen behind in a penalty shootout against Sweden in a quarterfinal match in Brasília.
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. It will be the first major tournament the USWNT has played without making the semifinal. Her husband, former National Football League tight end Jerramy Stevens, was arrested for DUI in January 2015, reportedly driving a USA team van with Solo as a passenger, which got Solo a 30-day suspension.
The U.S. women’s soccer team, who is a four-time Olympic gold medalists, were defeated by Sweden 4-3 on penalty kicks, following a 1-1 draw at the Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia on Friday.
The loss is a devastating one for a team whose World Cup win a year ago earned them a ticker tape parade in New York City.
USA goalkeeper Hope Solo saved an attempt by Linda Sembrant to pull the us even on the third shot of the shootout but couldn’t save Sweden’s final, winning shot by Lisa Dahlkvist.
“I’m going to Rio, and she’s going home”. She is the one who delivered the winning goal for her country in the penalty shootout.
Sundhage knows the US team well, having coached the Americans for five years. The last time the two teams met in the Olympics was at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Lotta Schlein beat Solo to give Sweden the 1-0 lead. Sundhage was a player on the Sweden team that fell 2-1 to the Americans.
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There was widespread criticism of Solo on social media following her comments.
