Solo Becomes THE Story As U.S.Women Eliminated

Once again Hope Solo has taken over the story.

As everyone knows by now, the United States women shocked the soccer world by being eliminated  in the Olympics quarterfinals by Sweden in a shootout after a 1-1 tie.  The game ended when Lisa Dahlkvist made her shot in the firth round after Christen Press had sent hers over the crossbar.   And suddenly there would be no third straight gold medal for the Americans, in fact no medal at all.

After praising her team for tying the match in the 75th minute, Solo then said that the Swedes played "like a bunch of cowards" for employing a defensive game plan and not attacking.  “The best team did not win today,’’ she added, according to Jay Schreiber in the New York Times.  “I strongly and firmly believe that.’’

Solo, fans will recall, created an uproar in 2007 when she criticized then-Coach Greg Ryan for playing Brianna Scurry instead of Solo in a loss in the World Cup semi-finals.  She has also come under scrutiny for her personal life, especially her arrest in 2014 on charges of assaulting two family members.  The charges were later dismissed although according to KING-5 television in Seattle, they were later reinstated and are pending.

KING also reported that Solo is unlikely to face any punishment for her remarks.  Nor should she.  Although in bad taste and showing poor sportsmanship, they were in the heat of the moment and the product of frustration.  Maybe the U.S. did outplay Sweden.  But the bottom line is Sweden made one more penalty kick than did the U.S.  As Swedish (and former U.S.) coach Pia Sundhage put it, according to the Times, “It’s O.K. to be a coward if you win.’’  “They played more attacking football than we did. We defended very well.’’  And Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl quoted Sundhage as saying "I'm going to Rio.  She's going home."  Amen to that.

Former U.S. player Julie Foudy, now a TV commentator, said "It’s clearly not the tradition of our national team to react that way," and added, "She's not the first to lose a big game."  She agreed that Sweden's strategy was effective and said, "The U.S. team did not have enough in the attacking third to break it down.”

Wahl's article on-line, provided (as he always does) an astute analysis of the match and Solo's comments.  For example, he noted that of 27 shots by the U.S., only six were on goal.

Concerning Solo's comments, Wahl wrote that the keeper was not necessarily inaccurate in her description of the Swedes' game plan.  "But is cowardly too strong a word for what Sweden did?  Yes. It’s not like we don’t see such tactics on a fairly regular basis in this sport, and the onus is on the attacking team to break down the defense.  Finally, were Solo’s comments lacking grace and a sense of the Olympic spirit? Yes, they were. I’m convinced that they reflected her honest opinion, but they didn’t have to be said. "

Not surprisingly, Carli Lloyd took the high road.  Wahl quoted her as saying, “It’s always hard to swallow losing in PKs. It’s gonna hurt. But we’ve got to hold our heads high. This team is not going to crumble. We’re going to work that much harder.”

U.S. Coach Jill Ellis also refused to knock Sweden.  "The game is the game,” she said to Wahl. “Tactically, that’s a coach’s prerogative, a coach’s choice. They look at their personnel and determine a gameplan based on that. To take us to penalty kicks is probably a great strategy, because then it becomes a bit of a crapshoot.”