Photo Credit: Pedro Vilela/Getty Images
It was a stunning day for the United States Women’s National Team as they found themselves in unfamiliar territory. Going home without any medals after losing in the quarterfinals round. At the end of two extra time periods, the score was tied at one. The women lost to Sweden in a game that came down to penalty kicks. Both Alex Morgan and Christen Press missed their kicks, while Sweden only had one missed attempt. Morgan scored the only US goal in the game.
Hope Solo, goalie and one of the key reasons USWNT was expected to have an easy time getting back to the gold medal match, spoke out after the loss and criticized Sweden’s style of play.
According to Sports Illustrated’s senior writer Grant Wahl, she said,
I think we showed a lot of heart. We came back from a goal down. I’m very proud of this team. But I also think we played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win today. I strongly believe that. They didn’t want to open play. They didn’t want to pass the ball. They didn’t want to play great soccer. It was a combative game, a physical game. Exactly what they wanted and exactly what their gameplay was. I don’t think they’re going to make it far in the tournament,” she added. “I think it was very cowardly, but they won. They’re moving on and we’re going home.
Solo has gotten a lot of slack for her comments, but what did you expect from her after the biggest loss of her career? She has never been one to hold back her thoughts and she definitely did not this time. Was it smart to call Sweden cowards? Of course not and she knows that. She tweeted this shortly after these comments were made public.
This was the full context of my comments today. Thank you @GrantWahl. Losing sucks. I'm really bad at it. https://t.co/s5Mckg8o6B
— Hope Solo (@hopesolo) August 12, 2016
The United States had chances to win, but Sweden was in fact the better team on the field today. This will be the first time the US will not be in the women’s soccer gold medal match.
