They lost in the quarterfinals to Sweden in a penalty shootout. With the next kick, Lisa Dahlkvist beat an outstretched Solo for the 4-3 win.
Advertisement
As Sweden celebrated, US captain Carli Lloyd crouched on the field at Mane Garrincha Stadium.
Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana stands on the podium after winning the gold medal in the women’s 10,000-meter final during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, .
Hope Solo, never afraid to speak her mind, called the Swedish women’s soccer team “cowards” Friday after the Swedes knocked the USA out of the Olympics in a penalty kick shootout. I think it was very cowardly.
It was a frustrating loss because we had the possession, the opportunities, and the shots on goal. “I’m very proud of this team”, she said.
Describing her own team’s play as “courageous”, Solo said “I also think we were playing a bunch of cowards”. I strongly believe that.
Solo was criticizing Sweden’s style of play, which was defensive throughout the match. Swedish coach Pia Sundhage, who used to coach the USA, responded, “It’s OK to be a coward if you win”. Only Norway has been able to stop the USA string of golds, winning at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Sweden’s Stina Blackstenius scored on a breakaway, firing a shot past Solo for a 1-0 lead in the 61th minute.
After the match remained tied at 1-1 through 120 minutes, it went to penalty kicks for the first time in women’s Olympic soccer history.
Friday’s victory moves Sweden onto the semifinals, where they will face the victor of Friday night’s quarterfinal match between Brazil and Australia.
One person who wasn’t bothered by Solo’s remarks was Sundhage, the Swedish coach. It was just her second worldwide goal, and Sundhage reacted by high-fiving her assistants on the bench. It was Morgan’s team-leading 13th goal of the year.
“It’s hard to go back to back – that’s why no one has done it”, captain Carli Lloyd said. “They didn’t want to play great soccer”, she said.
The Americans won their first two matches in Brazil before a surprising 2-2 draw in Manaus against Colombia, which had already been eliminated.
Press replaced Rapinoe in the extra period.
There’s no question she’s the greatest goalkeeper in soccer, but she’s a disgusting representative for the United States. “Unfortunately the better team didn’t win”. The last time the two teams met in the Olympics was at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Where does the women’s soccer team’s loss to Sweden fall in the USA’s biggest let downs?
Ranked sixth in the world, Sweden had struggled in its Olympic group with a 5-1 loss to host Brazil and finished 1-1-1. Her time of 29 minutes, 17.45 seconds bested the old mark set in 1993 by more than 14 seconds. Just moments later, she had another that was off-target, too, as the United States struggled to finish throughout the match. “Zika!” for a week, has courted controversy for her comments in the past.
Advertisement
Several athletes chose not to come to Brazil citing Zika scares and Solo posted pictures on social media wearing a mosquito mask over her face and carrying industrial quantities of repellent.
