Hope Solo: "We played a bunch of cowards"

Hope Solo needs to grow up - "Speak For Yourself"

Tough loss for the U.S. women"s soccer team Friday in Rio. The U.S. were eliminated from the Olympics bySweden on penalty kicks following an Olympic quarterfinal game that ended in a 1-1 draw.

Apparently, it"s not sittingwell with goalie Hope Solo.

Here"s more of what Solo had to say after the game concluded:

"We played a creative game. We had many opportunities on goal. We showed a lot of heart. We came back from a goal down. Im very proud of this team."

We played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win today. I strongly, firmly believe that.

"Sweden dropped back. They didn"t want to open play. They didnt want to pass the ball around. They didnt want to play great soccer, entertaining soccer. It was a combative game. A physical game. Exactly what they wanted. Exactly what their game plan was. We had that style of play when Pia was our coach. I think it was very cowardly. But they won, theyre moving on. And were going home,"

Meanwhile, Swedish coach and former U.S. national team coach Pia Sundhagehad a stern reply to Solo.

According to Hope Solo, I think you should define what is a good team. Well, usually especially with the Americans a good team is when theyre winning.

And theyre winning all the time. Thats the best team in the world. But for once they didnt go the whole way through. We won the game. They played more attacking football than we did. We defend very well. And the fact thatit went to penalty kicks says something about our defending. U.S.played better in the attack, we played better in the defense. And at the end of the day we won the game and thats what all counts.

Its OK to be a coward if you win.

After the initial outburst, Solo tried to soften her earlier comments.

"Youve got to take your hat off to them because they beat us. So theyre going on, like I said, and were going home. They dont have as quality of players as the American team does or as Brazil does, so they have to play a way thats going to give them hope to beat a team like Brazil or the USA."

"And I think thats part of the tactical side of things. And Pia is somewhat of a tactician, so she dropped her team into a 50 and tried to hit long b***s. They could only really score on the opportunity for a long ball or on set pieces.So I guess you can say its smart, but I dont think its respectful to the game."

Source: http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-oly-rio-2016-hope-solo-doesn-t-hold-back-after-u-s-1471031683-htmlstory.html

Continue Reading ..

Hope Solo Calls Sweden Cowards After USWNT Loses In Olympic Quarterfinal

Hope Solo had some harsh words for Sweden after their Olympic defeat

Hope Solo is no stranger to controversy both on and off the soccer field, but that didnt make her comments after the United States womens soccer team lost to Sweden in the teams Olympic quarterfinal matchup Friday any less shocking.

Team USAs quest for a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics ended with a 4-3 loss in penalty kicks, and when asked about what happened after the game, Solo had this to say to reporters:

Wow. Just wow.

The Olympics are supposed to bring out the best in athletes and sportsmanship, but that certainly wasnt the case with Solo after the stunning loss.

Thumbnail photo viaChristopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports Images

Source: http://nesn.com/2016/08/hope-solo-calls-sweden-cowards-after-uswnt-loses-in-olympic-quarterfinal/

Continue Reading ..

Rio 2016: Carli Lloyd could give classless Hope Solo a lesson on handling defeat | Politi

Hope Solo Proves Just How Sore A Loser She Is

RIO DE JANEIROShe had used the "L" word plenty in the days leading up to these Olympics. The biggestmotivation for Carli Lloyd, of course, was puttinganother gold medal inher sock drawer.

But thismonth was also about her legacy. Lloyd doesn"t want to just be the greatest women"s soccer player of thisgeneration, a title she confirmed with her epic performancein leading the U.S. Women"s National Team to a victory in the World Cup. She wants to be remembered as one of the best of all time.

So that championship game hat trick? "Old news," she had called it recently. She had riddenthat wave with the rest of her teammates, enjoyed that trip through lower Manhattanon the parade float and the late-night TV circuit, but Rio was another chance to add to her resume.

Rio was an opportunity to confirm to the world that Lloyd, the often overlooked product of Delran and Rutgers, belonged in the conversation with Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly and the rest, once and for all.

And that"s what made the result in Brasilia on Friday afternoon so shocking, so devastating. Lloyd was on her knees, her shoulders slumped, with a disbelieving look in her eyes as the underdog Swedish players celebratedafter their finalpenalty kick sailed past Hope Soloand into the U.S. net.

Lloyd among N.J."s greatest Olympians

The U.S. women had not just lost in the Rio Olympics. They had lost in the Rio Olympicswithout even getting to Rio,playing all theirearly games in stadiums around the country. It is an unthinkable result for a team that had never lost in an international tournament before the semifinals and had claimed four of the five Olympic titles.

Lloyd had scored a goal in each of the first two games, and while she hadn"t played her best against Sweden, there will always be a feeling of "what if" given what happened late in extra time. Lloyd scored on a brilliant header with five minutes left, but as she turned with her arms and mouth wide to celebrate, the referee waved off the goal.

Offsides. Except it wasn"t offsides, and no matter how many replay angles you look at, it"ll never be offsides. It was an awful call, and while Swedish fans can argue they had a doozy of their own a few minutes later, the disallowed Lloyd goal will be the lasting image from these Olympics.

Then again, with the classless way Solo handled herself in defeat, few around the world likely will mourn the U.S departure. "I"m very proud of this team. But I also think we played a bunch of cowards," Solo said, as if Sweden was the first team to take a defense-first approach against a better opponent.

Not that Solo"s behavior is any surprise this team will be better off if the goalkeeper and her baggage are not on the next international trip. Somehow, after years playing with the best role models in women"s sports, the lessons have never rubbed off on her.

Lloyd, not surprisingly, handled the loss with class. "It just doesn"t feel right right now," she said in her postgame interviewwith tears streaming down her face, and it"s clear the pain will stay with her long that the exhilaration of the World Cup victory did.

That"s how the great ones operate, of course, and no matter what happened in Brazil, Lloyd is still the best player in the sport. This is the frustration with women"s soccer: She"ll have to wait another three years to prove that with the entire world watching.

Meet all of N.J."s Olympians in Rio

She isn"t the only New Jersey soccer star suffering. Basking Ridge native Tobin Heath was arguably the best U.S. player throughout the tournament, but head coach Jill Ellis picked six shooters for penalty kicks and she was not one of them. But at least, at 28, Heath is in the heart of her prime.

Lloyd is 34. The next major international tournament is not until 2019, when Lloyd will be near her own planned retirement date. She is running out of opportunities to add to that legacy, which is what makes this loss sting even more.

"You best believe that in 2019 and 2020," Lloyd said when the match ended, "we"re going to be back for the gold."

This much we know about Lloyd: The grueling workouts that made her the best in the game will continue now, maybe even intensify, as she prepares for the next challenge. But for an athlete focused on her legacy, the early exit in Rio will forever bea missed opportunity.

Steve Politi may be reached atspoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@StevePoliti. FindNJ.com on Facebook.

Source: http://www.nj.com/olympics/index.ssf/2016/08/rio_stunner_carli_lloyd_and_us_womens_soccer_team_ousted_in_quarterfinals.html

Continue Reading ..

Hope Solo quiets the crowd and France in record-setting 1-0 win for U.S. women

Hope Solo Gets Taunted By Thousands Screaming "Zika!" at Olympic Match In Rio

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil Hope Solo is arguably the best goalkeeper in womens soccer history. But shes clearly not the most popular.

For the second time is as many games at the Rio Olympics, Solo was booed mercilessly every time she touched the ball Saturday. And for the second time Solo answered the taunts with a shutout in a 1-0 victory over France on a goal from Carli Lloyd in the 63rd minute.

With the victory the U.S., the three-time defending Olympic champion, moved a big step closer to winning its group and earning a quarterfinal date in Brasilia against a third-place team.

France, on the other hand, needs at least a tie to finish second in the group and win a quarterfinal trip to Sao Paulo, where it would play the winner of Group F, likely Germany or Canada.

Both teams have one game left in group play Tuesday, the top-ranked U.S. against Colombia on the edge of the Amazon jungle in steamy Manaus and No. 3 France against New Zealand in the colonial port city of Salvador.

That picture would be far more jumbled if not for Solo, who was making the 200th appearance of her international career, the most by any goalkeeper, male or female, in history.

The Brazilian crowd was in no mood to help her celebrate the milestone. Each time she touched the ball the crowd booed loudly or as loudly as a crowd of about 10,000 people can boo then chanted Zika! each time she took a goal kick.

Last month Solo, who said she had considered skipping the Olympics because of the Zika virus, posted photos of herself on Twitter wearing an anti-mosquito mask and holding a bottle of insect repellent, angering many Brazilians.

Solo later apologized but the apology wasnt accepted by everyone. After Wednesdays opening defeat of New Zealand, in which Solo was also booed loudly, three American players said they were told by Brazilians near the U.S. bench that some fans had mixed anti-gay slurs with the Zika chant.

Whatever they were saying Saturday, Solo used their anger to fuel what might have been one of the best performances of her career.

In the 15th minute she lifted a header by Wendie Renard over the crossbar. In the 26th minute, Marie-Laure Delie came in alone on Solo, who stood her ground, using both fists to bat away a point-blank shot.

Then just before the intermission, Delie fought her way around left back Meghan Klingenberg and had another one-on-one situation with Solo, who smothered the shot.

France easily could have led by three goals at the break. Instead the game was scoreless.

Early in the second half Alex Morgan almost stole a goal for the U.S. after French keeper Sarah Bouhaddi bobbled the ball while going to the ground to make a save. The ball bounced straight to Morgan but she couldnt get off a decent shot before tumbling over the end line.

A couple of minutes later the U.S. was back, with Tobin Heath getting off a strong left-footed shot. Bouhaddi got a hand on that one too, deflecting it off the right post. But the ball ricocheted right to Lloyd, who had an easy tap-in for the goal.

Two of the three U.S. goals in this tournament have been scored by Lloyd, the reigning FIFA world player of the year, and both have been set up by Heath.

Given a lead, Solo then closed the game by making a diving two-handed stop of a Delie header and a leaping save on a corner kick before coming off her line twice to make another pair of saves seconds apart in the 82nd minute, preserving the 102nd shutout of her career. That, too, is a record.

For France and Delie who will likely by seeing Solo in her nightmares Saturdays result continued a frustrating trend. Twice previously it had played the U.S. in a world championship competition only to lose, in the group stage four years ago in London and in the semifinals of the 2011 World Cup.

Source: http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/olympics/hope-solo-quiets-the-crowd-and-france-in-record-setting-1-0-win-for-u-s-women/

Continue Reading ..

Hope Solo not bothered by "Zika" crowd chants at Olympics

Hope Solo Gets Taunted By Thousands Screaming "Zika!" at Olympic Match In Rio

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil -- Hope Solo wasn"t bothered by the chanting.

The veteran USA goalie was teased by fans chanting "Zika, Zika" at her as the U.S. women"s soccer team defeated New Zealand in its Olympic debut on Wednesday.

The crowd of nearly 10,000 fans at the 60,000-capacity Mineirao Stadium jeered the goalkeeper with references to the virus that has scared many athletes ahead of the Rio Games.

"I"m glad the fans had fun," Solo said. "And if they had fun at my expense, more power to them."

Solo upset some Brazilians before coming to the Olympics by tweeting a photo of herself wearing a hat with mosquito netting. She also posted a photo of dozens of packs of mosquito repellent that she was packing for her trip to Brazil.

She made amends a few days before the games, blaming the American media for spreading fear about Zika and other problems ahead of the Rio Games. She said the media was being "really tough on people of Brazil."

The veteran goalkeeper said she didn"t realize during the game that the fans were chanting "Zika," and thought they were only yelling a common slur that local clubs sometimes use against goalkeepers at goal kicks.

Some of the fans were indeed yelling the slur early in the game, but later the majority of the crowd started with the "Zika" chant, which was also repeated after the final whistle.

"That"s something hopefully they will put behind them and realize that Hope has apologized to the Brazilian people," U.S. coach Jill Ellis said of the fans. "Sometimes mistakes are made. We are used to getting booed in other countries, so that part of it is not foreign. I hope the Brazilian people appreciate what we are trying to do with the ball and move past that."

2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hope-solo-zika-crowd-chants-olympics-brazil/

Continue Reading ..