Hope Solo: Dumped by the U.S. Women’s Team

Letter I sent to Nike.com, “First I would like to thank you very much for your support of the US National Women team and for Women’s soccer in general. I am writing to tell you that while I have watched the entire women’s world cup I will not be watching the final US game due to the Hope Solo issue. Solo got the team to where they are and should finish what she started. I am disappointed that her teammates abandonded her so readily, something which skewed my opinion of their character. Ryan should go and Hope should have stayed.

Hope Solo really got treated unfairly. She had every right to say what she said,, the coach made a huge mistake and is even making a worse one now

I support Coach Ryan. You cannot have your players criticize you especially in public. If she wanted a private meeting with him, that’s one thing. But doing it in public completely questions his authority and his ability to coach the team. It is unacceptable behavior by a player.

How much does one young person have to endure? The team not accepting her apology and turning on her. Has anyone taken the time to walk in her shoes for 2007. Her father passed away. Her best friend was killed in a car accident. Now her team turns on her. Damm, cut her some slack. She is human. I wish I could have called the coach a jerk for her. I wish her well in whatever she chooses to do next.

I’m sure Solo will be back with the team for the games in October. I don’t agree with what she did and how she handled herself. I support Coach Ryan and the team’s decision. While Solo was amazing at this years World Cup I’m doubtful she could have contained Brazil any better.

This morning it was truly amazing to see the team finally click and play with the chemistry we all wanted to see. It was nice to see them all walk off the field with smiles. When they get back to the states the team can begin the healing process and all grow from this experience. Even Coach Ryan wants to grow and learn from this.

Soccer is a team sport even for a women team; Solo didn’t just trash Scurry she trashed the whole team! It is possible that the coach made a wrong decision but Solo’s personal attack on a teammate with such vital contribution for US women soccer is SHAMEFUL! She proved to be an egotistical person full with “super” goalie believes. Dumping her was the best decision made by the coach. This was Brazil day – if there is a lesson to learn from it, it is not about Solo, is about new directions for US team.

I’m sick of everyone saying that Solo trashed her teamate and therefore her team and thus she deserved what she got. So, in other words it’s not ok for Solo to criticize the coah and another player publicly (and please what she said was not that bad, a little ego bruise at best…give me a break) but it’s ok for her “so called” teamates to treat her like an outcast and banish her from the final game which she was instrumental in helping the get to. Seems kind of hypocritical to me…I think that’s the kind of “family/team” I could do without. The difference also is that Solo’s comments were off the cuff and in the heat of the moment but what her team did to her was calculated and cruel bording on evil. I think the U.S. womens team is a pathetic bunch of whining girls who owe Hope an apology for the way they treated her.

I guess Hope’s teammates never pondered the phrase “he who casts the first stone…”

I have read several submissions on a handful of blogs on the Ryan-Solo issue. I must agree that Coach Ryan, or hopefully, exCoach Ryan, really blew it. Had he been making statements to the team when he initially conceived this idea in mid summer that if we face Brazil, I might start Scurry, the team would have been prepared for it. I’ve never played soccer – all 3 of my kids have and the 2 boys were great players with the oldest being a keeper and the younger a defender, so my focus on the field has usually been on the defense. Yes, USA did not play really well, but they got some bad breaks and calls (the red card on Boxx should be reviewed by FIFA for a referee instructional film!!).
One thing no one mentioned about the bad coaching of Ryan are the two substitutions in the second half with defensive players!! Fouty was really perplexed by that and so was I. I believe it was 2-0 when the first sub was made and 3-0 when the second, but I might be wrong on that. Where I am heading is, I wonder if Ryan was concerned about HOW much USA would lose by because of his bad coaching and added new life to the defense to avoid a rout (6+ to 0) being on Scurry’s record!! In other words, he had given up winning or tying even when down only 2-0 and brought in some fresh defenders to help defend so Scurry would not look so bad.
I hope the WNT gets a new coach soon. Is Ryan the coach for the Olympic team?? I hope not.

Hope said some things that should have been said a long time ago. She is helping to expose the “good-ole boy/girl network that has forever existed in US soccer, started by Rothenberg.

See 1993 and the very mediocre Meola starting in goal over an up and coming superstar named Kasey Keller. An ineffective Lilly at the end of her career while a very talented Natasha Kai sits on the bench. An ineffective Brian McBride (way past his prime) on the field while Twellman doesn’t even make the team and Ching rides the pine. And now what happened with Hope… why??

One has to wonder if US Soccer and/or Ryan promised Scurry and Lilly last hurrahs, so to speak. Doing this while jeoparizing the future development of this team is unthinkable. Sadly, choosing these sides is always very political and a popularity contest.

I do accept the “last hurrah” thought. When a team is hitting on all cylinders, you do not change keepers. I realize that it is difficult for players to know that their prime is over…and that is something that Ryan should have been able to handle. He needs to go.

Dear American people,

Reading your different comments drive me crazy, my conclusion is that the american culture is definetly not made for team sports and football,sorry soccer particularl.

A coach is first of all an educator and the boss of the team, (yes we call him boss here in Europe), and his choices (which can be wrong as well !!!) can’t always suit everyone, and obviously there will always be disappointed people as only eleven players can be on the startin line up.

If coach Ryan had chosen to start with Solo she would never have said that Scurry maybe should get a chance (as she said ,I quoted” we cant live by big names” She’s, willingly or not ,openly despising Briana Scurry, ()should any doubts come up please check the vid again) ).
All to say that makin a scandal in the media is disrespectfull and selfish towards the squad and staff, plus it naturally excludes Solo of the squad as she decided to bring the matter on the public place. And that’s why Solo’s teammates decided to exclude her from the squad.

She obviouly had the right to be upset, should it have been different it would be strange as she is a professional but not to involve the media and the public by the same way.

PS: I am a Solo fan and a professional workin in professional football.

Paul from France.

This whole sorry episode has been one mistake after another, and by far the worst is what the team did to Hope Solo at the end.

Begin with Ryan’s decision to play Briana Scurry. I’m sure he thought in eminent good faith that she was the best keeper for the situation. But if he had been thinking since early summer that he’d play her if the US met Brazil at the World Cup, he should have let Hope Solo know long ago, he should have let the team know long ago, and he should have let Briana herself know long ago. Briana Scurry just wasn’t mentally prepared to play in that match, and that’s Ryan’s fault.

Next mistake is for Hope Solo to speak out the way she did. Not that she doesn’t have the right to — she does. But her comments only served to make a bad situation worse. (She was almost certainly right, though: she would have prevented at least the first two goals. The first one resulted from a horrible corner kick by Brazil. There were no Brazilian players remotely close enough to attack it. From the milisecond it left the kicker’s foot, Briana should have been screaming that she had it. I think Hope Solo would have. The second goal should have been stopped, too. I didn’t see the others.)

By far the worst mistake was to banish Hope from the team for the final game, though. That comes back to both Ryan and the team. As a coach, you don’t even think of leaving a decision like that to the team, or even thinking in the first place that banishing Hope would be an appropriate thing to do. And as a team, you don’t kick a teammate when she’s down. As someone else pointed out, Hope made her comments in the heat of an emotional moment, but the team did what it did to her with the benefit of plenty of time for calm reflection. I think everyone was looking far more to what was being said in the media about what should be done than to what in her own heart she thought was the right response. I feel a knot in my stomach every time I think about a player so essential to the US being in that game to begin with, who just three days earlier was unquestionably a big part of the team, forbidden even to sit on the bench. For this nonsense to continue even one more day would be a travesty.

There is a good blog about this at http://www.nyTimes.com on their soccer site too. I made my own post there and read a wonderful rant by a guy called Phillip. I am reprinting his post here because it is so great (just ignor the mistakes in grammer and spelling as it is the thought that counts).

As to the comments by Paul M., I can see that you are not an American. While I understand and can appreciate your point, Americans play plenty of team sports, including soccer. However, most Americans just do not believe that everyone needs to march in lock step at all times.

Now for Phillip’s comments:
• When Hope brings up 2004, she’s not saying that Bri is no good, but that she feels that she’s the best keeper the US has today. 3 years ago that wasn’t true and Bri was the best keeper. She earned the #1 keeper position (fair and square) and it’s not 2004 ? Why is this a hard concept, I don’t get it?
Hope says this because Ryan is acting like we are in 2004 when Bri was a better keeper and the #1. She can’t believe the incompetence of her coach to bench her for such a nebulous charge. She’s not at good at reaction saves? Can you imagine a more ludicrous reason? I don’t believe that for one moment and something else was obviously involved and Hope, I think, is talking from this perspective.
The sporting world is not some sort of politiclaly correct utopia. It has never been. The unwritten code is a joke.
It matters nor whether you approve or disapprove. There are other athletes doing similar things and that is just that. Compare Peyton Manning throwing his defense under the bus. Implication: NOTHING. OK, how about Shockey? Nothing! Joey Porter down here complained about playing time and why did they bring him down here if they weren’t going to play him on 3rd downs? Is he implying that he’s better than the other linebackers on 3rd down? Sure sounds like it. He’s attacking the coaches decision to leave him off but doesn’t that mean he thinks he’s better? You better believe it. He does and he’s not afraid to say it. In fact he’s almost expected to say it. Again, nothing. (no kicking off team , no firesorm , no accusations of team chemistry being ruined, etc…)
Of course these are all examples of misbehavior and some are worse than Solo’s and some aren’t but why do we just kind of laugh it off or say “Did you hear what so and so said?”. But in none of these cases was the player banished and made to eat in solitary confinement. Why? In some cases it was more egregious, like Shockey’s tirade where he basically said the whole coaching staff sucked.
We expect in the heat of the moment for some players to snap and we kind of just “know” what they meant and ignore the rest because we know they love the team and are just caught up in the heat of the moment.
Why is Solo not afforded this extra rope? Why is the leash so tight? In fact in a long losing streak or particularly bad performance if someone doesn’t snap, don’t we start to wonder if the players even care? Don’t you ask yourself in the Mets freefall debacle where was the passion, why didn’t anyone go ballistic and turn water coolers over , tables , punched walls , etc..nothing? It’s like they didn’t give a dang. Not even the manager went ape on his players? Anything ? Do something! I think the Mets needed a fiery player or manager to make them snap out of their coma, unfortunately everyone was cool calm and collective all the way to their bitter death.
There’s a reason why such a decision never happend before, because an athele playing at the highest level of compettition will know right off, whether the coach’s decision means a better chance to win, or a high chance of losing. I’m not talking about the normality of decisions. I’m talking about THAT one, which was beyond obvious, at an unbelievable magnitude. If you are a player and didn’t question such call, then you don’t deserve to play at that level. I don’t care how much you like or respect your teamate. That kind of competition isn’t about how happy of a family your are. It’s about winning. It’s all about winning.
If you want 20 happy women who really like each other, then fine. Have them take off their jerseys and send it back. We need 20 competitors to take their place.
The actions of the team elders smacks of nespotism and cronyism, I really do not see the long term benefit of these actions except to instill fear and demand compliance from the younger players who will challenge the Lilly, Scurry and Wambach for their spots in future competitions. My suspicion is that these team doyens will be playing for the forseeable future while younger more able players are kept in check by a system that does not reward them for their talent while requiring absolute obediance and submission with the threat of being “Soloed” constantly hanging over their heads.
“I’m actually really proud of Greg and the team for the way they’ve handled this. This isn’t supposed to happen and it’s not right. I have to be honest — like Foudy, when I heard Hope’s interview it kind of made me sick.” – Shannon Mac
Shannon, how can you say something like that? How did Ryan handle it, run and hide behind the team leaders?
Let’s look at it this way: Hope Solo have not had disciplinary issues. She represent the US team for so long. She gave up her career abroad to join the residency program in preparation for the WC. Her record is impecable. She joins the team going around to various campuses promoting the residency program, and the USWNT in general. Her father passed away recently, and she wanted to win the cup for him. She just recorded 300 minutes without conceeding a goal. The defensive line knows her well, played with her for a long time, and they come into the semis on a high.
Me, I’m the coach. I made the decision to switch goalkeepers. The decision was under heavy scrutiny. Well we lost. Bad. Worst ever. Hope Solo sat and watch my decision destroy her dreams, and all that she worked for, that she, by merit, earned.
So she got upset and it gets out to the press. Not just mad that we lost. mad that I screw it up and she knew it all along. She disagree all along.
What kind of a man am I, through all that, going to punish her for being upset? Isn’t it my fault to begin with? Isn’t it me who is responsible for all this? Isn’t it me who shattered her WC dream? Am I not the coach of this team? Should I apologize to her and tell her it’s ok you were just upset and you have every right to be upset, I messed up and I’m sorry?
Well, Should I? No. Shannon Mac won’t be proud if I do that.
Nah, I’ll go run behind the Team Leaders, we then punish her for breaking the code, shun her from the team where she can’t play, stay or train or even eat with the team. She can’t be in the next match nor going up there to receive her medal. Yeah that’s what we do here in this family environment.
— Posted by Phillip

[...] seems that, with a new head coach, the World Cup controversy is drama that the national team and Ms Solo can leave in the [...]