Tag Archives: Sweden

Soccer star Hope Solo has been suspended from the U.S. Women’s National Team for six months, the organization announced on Wednesday. The athlete will be ineligible to compete until February . Here disciplinary action comes after the goalkeeper, who helped Team USA to gold in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, lashed out in Rio. Hope slammed the Swedish women’s soccer team after the U.S. was stunningly defeated and knocked out of medal contention early. Sunil Gulati, the president of the organization, criticized “the comments by Hope Solo after the match against Sweden at the 2016 Olympics.” Solo’s comments “were unacceptable and do not meet the standard of conduct we require from our National Team players,” Gulati said.  “Beyond the athletic arena and beyond the results” of the match, “the Olympics celebrate the ideals of fair play and respect.” The USWNT felt Solo didn’t live up to those ideals. “We expect all of our representatives to honor those principles,” Gulati said, explaining the suspension, “with no exceptions.” After the August 12 defeat, Solo said she thought the losing Team USA played a “courageous game,” while Sweden … did not. “I think we showed a lot of heart. We came back from a goal down. I’m very proud of this team,” the controversial star began. “But I also think we played a bunch of cowards,” she said. “The best team did not win today. I strongly believe that.” Obviously, her comments did not go over too well. Swedish coach Pia Sundhage, who previously coached Team USA to those two Olympic gold medals, blasted the goalie for her attitude.  “We won the game. They played more attacking football than we did. We defended very well,” Sundhage told  The Los Angeles Times .  “It’s OK to be a coward if you win.”  In response, Solo retweeted  Sports Illustrated ‘s full transcript of her much-discussed quote and admitted that she’s not the best loser. “Losing sucks. I’m really bad at it,” she wrote. Hope Solo Taunted by “ZIKA” Chants in Olympic Opener That wasn’t sufficient to avoid a suspension, but at least it was honest; Hope does not mince words, or hold back her actions. After posting photos that some felt were disrespectful about the host nation, Solo was taunted with “Zika” chants earlier in the games. This isn’t Solo’s first brush with trouble. In 2015, she was benched for 30 days for “an incident that occurred during the current WNT training camp” that was held in Carson, Calif. Allegedly, there was drunken driving of the team van  by her husband, who’s been by her side throughout a few of Solo’s lower points. Hope was arrested for domestic violence in 2014, and has been involved in some eyebrow-raising incidents with Jerramy Stevens (below):

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Hope Solo: Suspended By U.S. Women’s Soccer!