It was the first time an Olympic women’s soccer match went to penalties, .
Advertisement
She also indulged in what appeared to be blatant gamesmanship on Friday by calling for a new set of gloves immediately before Sweden’s decisive penalty.
But Hope Solo – the abrasive, Star Wars-surnamed goalkeeper of the United States women’s soccer team – isn’t just any villain.
Public enemy: Hope Solo.
As Sweden celebrated, USA captain Carli Lloyd crouched on the field at Mane Garrincha Stadium in disbelief. It was the first time that an Olympic women’s match had gone to penalties.
It was her reaction to the defeat after the Swedes handed the Americans their earliest elimination from a tournament – Women’s World Cup or Olympics.
“I thought that we played a courageous game”, Solo reportedly said. Morgan was kept mostly quiet, and any time Mallory Pugh or Lloyd had sights at goal, it was from distance and the Swedes crowded them out quickly. “It was very cowardly”. Lloyd had a goal disallowed for the United States, which the forward was later told was for offside-it wasn’t-then Sweden went back up the other end of the pitch and Lotta Schelin also found the back of the net. After both teams converted in the fourth stage, Christen Press drove her shot over the crossbar and Lisa Dahlkvist beat Hope Solo to clinch victory. We showed a lot of heart. “The best group did not win today, I emphatically, immovably trust that”. “I strongly and firmly believe that”. With the Americans eliminated, the draw has opened up for new favorite Germany, which advanced to the semifinals later Friday, and host Brazil, which plays its quarterfinal against Australia on Friday night.
“It’s OK to be a coward”, Swedish coach Pia Sundhage said, “if you win”.
Sweden’s Stina Blackstenius scored on a breakaway, firing a shot past Solo for a 1-0 lead in the 61th minute. Alex Morgan netted the equalizer in the 78th and the match went to extra time. “Zika!” for a week, has courted controversy for her comments in the past.
Rick Maese contributed from Rio de Janeiro.
Solo, who had already been taunted mercilessly by the Brazilian fans over social media posts about the Zika virus, caused another stir in the aftermath of the loss by criticizing Sweden’s defensive stand against the top-ranked Americans.
From there came overtime, when Carli Lloyd headed the ball past Swedish goalie Hedvig Lindahl in the 115th minute. At the top of the box, Dunn flicked a header that caromed off Jessica Samuelsson and fell to Morgan for a left-footed one-timer into the lower-left corner, her fifth career Olympic goal. Going home without the Olympic title Ellis so badly wanted to pair with the World Cup title her team won last summer. “They didn’t want to play great soccer”, she said. We defend very well.
The 27-6 advantage in shots by the US led Solo to gripe the side that dominated the flow of play did not win.
Current US Coach Jill Ellis wasn’t as direct, but also made it clear any attack on Sweden’s game plan was uncalled for.
In the 99th minute, Press replaced Rapinoe, who on Tuesday had returned from an eight-month injury layoff and was only capable of playing 30 minutes or so.
Advertisement
It was the first time that the United States have not reached the Olympic final. At last year’s World Cup, the two teams played to a scoreless draw. Sundhage was the coach then, just as she was in 2012, the last time the USA won an Olympic title.
