In later action Friday, Michael Phelps looks to add to his gold medal haul in the men’s 100 meter butterfly finals 24 hours after winning the 200 individual medley final for a fourth consecutive Olympics and his fourth gold of 2016.
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The three-time defending champion United States had been the clear favorites in Brazil to become the first team to win an Olympic gold following a Women’s World Cup title.
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. I’m very proud of the team.
“I was really optimistic”. Alex Morgan from the U.S. team said she did not anticipate the game would finish that way. “But it just wasn’t our day”.
She had been the target of derision from Brazilian fans from the moment the Olympics tournament began, and now she needed to rescue her teammates, who had quickly fallen behind in a penalty shoot-out against Sweden in a quarterfinals match in Brasília. Canada, the bronze medalists from London in 2012, will play Germany in Belo Horizonte. There was also a time not too long ago when she was almost as valuable to her national team as the Portuguese superstar is to his.
Solo is no stranger to controversy having been at the heart of domestic violence cases involving both her husband on the eve of their wedding as well as her half sister and nephew.
Solo said she was upset by Sweden’s strategy during the game, holding back and letting the USA set the pace.
It was a frustrating loss because we had the possession, the opportunities, and the shots on goal.
Said Sweden coach Pia Sundhage, who once coached Solo when she was in charge of the USA national team: “It’s OK to be a coward if you win”. “It’s the best way when you have to shift a gear because in high school we have games Tuesdays and Thursdays so if we lose on a Tuesday, you have to get them over that and focused on the next game whereas if you have a few days in between it’s a little more hard”. The best team did not win [Friday].
“I’m going to Rio, and she’s going home”.
After getting blasted by Solo after Friday’s match, Sundhage delivered a solid comeback: “I don’t give a crap”.
“They played a lower defensive line, I wouldn’t even call it a bunker because they did come out, it wasn’t like they bunkered the entire game”.
The U.S has won a record 12 consecutive games in Olympic play, with its last loss coming to Norway to open the 2008 Olympics.
“It’s smart and, actually, brave, because you’ll have to endure comments like this from spoiled, take-victory- for-granted brats like Hope Solo if it actually works”, he wrote. “I’m really bad at it”.
The U.S. had the majority of the chances in the first session of extra time, however Sweden again threatened on the counter attack.
In a career that includes 202 appearances and 103 shutouts, Solo has won two gold medals and a World Cup. The U.S. won silver in 2000.
Tied after three rounds in the shootout of Friday’s match, Sweden captain Caroline Seger shot past Solo. “Just playing against the USA on paper you think, ‘Oh my God, this is going to demand something special from me, ‘” Lindahl said. Exactly what they wanted and exactly what their game plan was.
“I think we did, because to say we didn’t is to say it doesn’t exist, and we did feel that”, she said. “No, that’s their choice”.
“Since (the 1991 women’s World Cup) the United States had never been out of the medals in any competition”.
The United States returns home now with two friendly matches set for September, the first against Thailand in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 15, followed by a meeting with the Netherlands in Atlanta on Sept. 18.
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