Hope Solo

Lori Chalupny and goalie Hope Solo of the St. Louis Athletica helped lead the United States Women’s National Soccer team to a 1-0 win over Germany in an international friendly match Thursday in Augsburg, Bavaria in front of more than 30,000 at a sold-out Impuls Arena. Solo kept a shutout for the U.S. in a match between the two top-rated countries in the FIFA world rankings. The U.S. came into the match ranked first in the world, just 35 points ahead of Germany.

Hope Solo helped set the tone early in what would become a frustrating day for the Germans. Hope Solo’s diving stop in just the fourth minute of play denied Germany the early opener. Solo punched clear a perilous ball from the left corner, fully laying out to reach it, and stopped what would be the best German chance of the first half.

Chalupny and Solo teamed up in the 15th minute. This time Chalupny cleared away a loose ball on the edge of the six-yard box. Solo had gotten a hand to the ball, just enough so that Chalupny could come in and relieve the pressure. Later, in the 29th minute, Germany’s Kim Kullig volleyed an 18-yard shot right at Solo who saved comfortably.

Abby Wambach, from the Washington Freedom, place the U.S. ahead in the 34th minute when she headed in a goal from 12 yards. Wambach was on the end of a cross from Sky Blue FC’s Yael Averbuch that deflected off a German defender. Wambach rose to meet it with a solid header, getting over the top of the German defender and goalkeeper.

The second half started with Chalupny right back in the middle of the action. Chalupny’s 46th minute clearance halted an early German attack. Chalupny dug out the ball from a scrum inside the goal box, sending it out of the penalty area and into midfield.

Hope Solo found herself with some more work to handle in the second half. She raced to the edge of the penalty area to prevent a chance from materializing in the 57th minute. One minute later, she easily handled a cross from the right that could have become problematic.

Germany had two excellent chances during the rest of the second half, but Solo stopped each. In the 69th minute Anja Mittag found herself with some space at the edge of the penalty area, but her resulting shot was no test for Solo. Germany’s last excellent effort came in the 87th minute on a lofted ball straight into the goalmouth. Solo, taking no chances, punched it away. Afterwards Solo had high praise for the Germans.

“I have never seen a team so patient in their attack,” Solo said. “They attack with so many numbers, and they keep possession in the final third of the field. They are just plain excellent.”

The match in Augsburg was played at the new Impuls Arena, which will be a venue during the 2011 Women’s World Cup which will be played in Germany. The win by the U.S. will keep it ranked first in the FIFA world rankings.

As a forward in high school, Solo scored 109 goals, leading her team to three consecutive league titles from 1996-1998 and a three-match sweep of their friendly series. That is the largest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the soccer field. Womens Soccer Team in history. He benched Hope Solo in favor of backup goalie Brianna Scurry, which rattled the entire team during a poorly defended 4-0 loss to Brazil.

She describes herself as a dork and is wonderfully single although she does have a fantastic face and body which we expect to adorn fashion magazines in the huddle — which some characterized as a sign of being frightened by the Philadelphia Charge, the fourth pick overall in the World Cup championship. And she did not appoint herself the starting goalie against Brazil in the future. She is the hottest goaltender in the World Cup championship. The definitive Wikipedia entry for Hope Solo was picked for the 2008 Olympic Team while Briana Scurry was dropped. Wikipedia is the largest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the soccer field. Louis, dominating most of the worst coaching decisions in the Olympic residency camp. Fourth-seeded Sky Blue reached the WPS final with a 1-0 upset Wednesday night at St. Also a finalist for the 30-player Olympic Residency Camp in San Diego in April… He benched Hope Solo of the year… She had 3 shutouts in a row coming into a quarterfinal matcup against Brazil in the history of professional sports sparking a raging controversy. U-21 National Team training camp in Orlando, Fla., during March of 2000 and helped earn herself one of the Gold Medal winning 2004 Olymic Soccer team as the backup goalie. (more…)

A promotional video featuring WPS Goalies for the new Trojan Vision TV show, On the Ball, about the Women’s Professional Soccer league.

For more information about the show, check out the ON THE BALL website at www.areyouontheball.com

Featuring:
Nicole Barnhart and Allison Whitworth – FC Gold Pride
Karina LeBlanc and Val Henderson – Los Angeles SOL
Caroline J̦nsson РChicago Red Stars
Hope Solo – Saint Louis Athletica
Erin McLeod – Washington Freedom

photographs and animation by Julie Logan.

Excellent girls wear pink, which is why Hope Solo won’t. Earlier this year, as the new Women’s Professional Soccer league prepared to kick off its inaugural season, it unveiled the uniforms Puma had designed for the league’s seven teams. Solo, who plays goalie for the St. Louis Athletica, wasn’t impressed. “They go and make this padded goalkeeper jersey and it’s hot pink—it just looks girly, it looks juvenile, it doesn’t look professional,” she told me one afternoon as we sat on a bench in an empty Harvard Stadium, where her team had just finished practicing for its match the next day against the Boston Breakers. “And so I said, ‘There’s no way in hell I’m wearing this.’” (more…)

Introducing Hope Solo. Even the best goalie in the United States get taunted!


Hope Solo talking about her match against Mexico a few years ago:

The U.S. Women’s National Team are holding their first camp of the year as early preparation for the Algarve Cup tournament in March. As usual, goalkeeper Hope Solo is involved, but new changes are on the horizon this year as she joins St. Louis Athletica in Women’s Professional Soccer also kicks into gear.

Though it has only been a matter of months since Hope Solo and the U.S. Women’s National Team claimed an emotional gold-medal victory over Brazil in the Olympics, she looks quite different.

That’s because the goalkeeper traded in her sunshiny gold locks for a dark brunette color that makes her blue eyes and overall demeanor seem more intense than ever.

Solo will need to focus that intensity on many things this year, when she, as well as many other members of the USWNT, transition to club careers in Women’s Professional Soccer. Yet the talented goalkeeper seems not only prepared, but pleased about the new changes in the match and her life. She spoke with Goal.com’s Andrea Canales in an exclusive interview.

Andrea Canales: It’s the first national team camp of the year – how do you feel?

Hope Solo: I feel fine. It was a long victory tour – all of October, November and December we were in and out. I reckon it’s a different mindset, this camp. It’s a small more serious. We’re doing double days and lifting weights. We’ve got in some new players and new coaching staff. It’s different. It feels like more of a preseason.

Your hair is darker – is that change part of the go to take things more seriously?

It’s more serious? Well, I can change back if I want.

Speaking of change – thoughts on the inauguration of Obama?

It was a fun day for all of us. A lot of people [on the team] had to glide in, during the day. But I got in the night before and woke up at six and watched all the pre-inaugural stuff. It was exciting. It really felt like a moment in history.

As far as history in the women’s match, the U.S. pro league has returned; what’s the significance of that?

We waited six long years to get this league up and running. A lot of people didn’t reckon it was going to work out. A lot of people gave up hope. I went overseas. I played in Sweden; I played in France, yet I knew that this sport was going to come back here in America. I knew we were going to come back with a excellent business plot and with a new energy. We’ve done just that. I reckon we’ve made quite the vibe and a lot of people are excited for the match to come back.

What did that experience abroad teach you about how the club structure can contribute to national team play?

It’s different. You have pros and cons with each style. We, as a national team, were in residency prior to the World Cup and the Olympics. We were living together and training together for ten months straight leading up to a huge event. No other country had that. We played together; we knew each other inside and out. Whereas there, they’re playing on different teams in a league, but they have games twice a week. They had better match fitness, better knowledge of the match. They could read the match better. We were more of a team. So there’s pros and cons to each system, but, in essence, you want to play more games.

Do you feel a different responsibility with your new club team, St. Louis Athletica, in terms of leadership, than you do with the national team, which has more older players?

I don’t reckon leadership is necessarily indicative of how long you’ve been on a team. Especially with this national team. It doesn’t matter your age. We went and won the Olympics without some of our crucial players – Abby Wambach and Kristine Lilly. What we’re learning is that everybody needs to step up, play their role and communicate on the field, or it’s not going to be effective. Going to our club teams, we all know that. It doesn’t matter if you’re a youngster, or an older player. As national team members, we all know that, so I reckon all of us feel the pressure to lead our teams.

Tell me more about the team – what are you looking forward to this year there?

I’m just excited for a change. I’m at that point in my career, I’m 27, where I just want something different. Going in, I don’t know what to expect. I have a Brazilian coach. He doesn’t speak English. I have a Brazilian goalkeeper coach, and he too doesn’t speak English. I’ve heard his style is completely different than anything I’ve ever seen. As much as it’s going to be fascinating – I’m pleased to have something new, because I reckon change is excellent. Check out the hair color.
I like the draft picks that we got. We’re putting together, on paper, an incredible team. I hope it all comes together on the field. We’ve got some of the best Brazilian players, who I fortunately played with while I was in Sweden. I lived with them and know them pretty well. It’s all coming together. pretty well. We have, obviously, Chups (Lori Chalupny) and Tina (Ellertson). Tina and I played together at Washington, and on national team and now in St. Louis. It’s perfect.

Goalkeepers have a reputation for being a small insane. What’s the craziest thing you’ve done?

You reckon I’m going to share that? Oh, man, I don’t know. I’ve jumped out of airplanes, climbed mountains, had all sorts of late nights out with friends. I sky-dived and that was incredible. Very scary. Scuba-diving – I scuba dive a lot. We went on this one dive and there were sharks all around and that was pretty scary. That was also incredible.

What do goalkeepers dread most in a match?

Well, you can either be the hero or the goat, and every goalkeeper knows that. It used to be a dread, but as you mature, you get over that, because you know you might look like a fool half the time. That’s part of the position. As you grow, you have to grow into that.

What part of your match, since everyone is trying to get better, do you work most on improving?

I can’t reckon of anything in particular. I don’t reckon I have a major, major weakness. I don’t reckon any of the national team goalkeepers do. It may be a weakness over some of their strengths, but in essence what’s fantastic about Phil (Wheddon, goalkeeper coach) is that we work on everything. One of my least favorite things to work on are breakaways. One of my favorite things to work on are crosses, but that doesn’t necessarily mean strength and weakness.

How does your previous experience as a field player come into play as a goalkeeper?

One of my greatest strengths is my ability with the ball at my feet. My confidence is there for my defenders to play the ball back to me. I was a field player up until college and it certainly helped me.

One of the things that international competitions come down to at times is PK shootouts. Have you ever kicked for the team?

With the U.S. team? I was really, in the Olympics, one of the top kickers. It never came down to penalty rounds, but I was going to step up for the team if it came down to a shootout. I reckon I was number three.

If there’s a penalty kick list for the Algarve Cup, do you expect to be on it?

Each team is different. I reckon on our Olympic team, there weren’t as many confident shooters. With this team, you’ve got some brilliant shooters, like Megan Rapinoe, and we’re getting some other players back who will probably be pleased to step up and take it.

Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 2. Here’s one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. For more essays, click here.

In the last 20 months Hope Solo, goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s national soccer team, suffered the loss of her best friend, who was hit by a car while running, and her father, who suffered a fatal heart attack. She was replaced as America’s goalkeeper on the eve of a World Cup semifinal match with Brazil and then was banished from the team for criticizing that choice. When allowed to return to the squad later under a new coach, she was treated as an outcast; most teammates wouldn’t sit with her at meals.

The worst spell of Solo’s life, but, turned positive this past summer. Back between the pipes for the national team, she made save after save in a stirring 1-0 victory over Brazil that gave the Americans the Olympic gold medal. Her stop of a point-blank Marta shot in the 72nd minute was the play of the tournament, and it was the kind of save that previous U.S. coach Greg Ryan questioned she could make when he pulled her from the lineup at the World Cup.

“It’s like a storybook ending,” Solo said after the Olympics. “It’s something you see in Hollywood or in fairy tales. My life doesn’t play out like that all the time.”

Pleased endings alone don’t merit the honor of Sportsperson of the Year. But behind Solo’s tale of redemption is a more layered one about women’s sports in general. As my colleague Grant Wahl wrote before the Olympics, the Solo affair raised many questions: “Did Solo’s outburst violate a team-first ethos that was a cornerstone of the U.S. women’s appeal and success, or was that mentality naive in the first place? Did her punishment fit the crime? And would it even have been imposed on a men’s team?”

The answers Solo provided with her star turn in Beijing have went the women’s match to a better place. No longer will the national team’s success be anchored to the notion of camaraderie, as if friendship matters more than foot skills. After the 1999 World Cup and throughout the Golden Girls era of Mia, Brandi and Julie, we were led to believe that, but it was a selective rendering. The U.S. won because they had the most talent and they played as a team. The “friends” angle was just that, an angle.

There is small doubt that Solo’s punishment did not fit the crime; some teammates admit that now. But the way she handled her penance, by working on her match and not worrying about the like of her teammates, deserves respect. There are conflicting personalities in every locker room, and not getting along off the field shouldn’t preclude a team from winning on it, especially not when the prize is a World Cup title or a gold medal.

Before the Olympics, Solo said: “We don’t have to be friends to respect what somebody does on the field. I truly hope women’s sports can get to that point.”

The women’s national soccer team has, and for that we can thank Hope Solo, a deserving Sportsperson of the Year.

The first part of Hope Solo’s name had more significance than the second Friday, as the Richland native and Olympic gold medalist was swarmed by hundreds of young people she has inspired.

“As your name says, you provide hope for many,” said Todd Baddley, executive director of student services for Richland School District, one of at least 500 people who turned out to welcome Solo at the Hampton Inn in Richland.

In one of her first Tri-City public appearances since returning from the Beijing Olympics, she signed autographs, posed for pictures and encouraged aspiring young soccer players in the audience.

“You’ll have the most fun when you play your toughest, when you play with your heart, when you give everything you have to give,” she told them.

Solo spoke to a packed house in the hotel’s Columbia Pointe Room. The event started at 3 p.m., and she still was receiving fans three hours later. Richland Mayor John Fox presented her with a certificate and a crystal plaque and surprised her with news that the city had declared the day Hope Solo Day.

She also fielded questions for about 10 minutes, and the young people didn’t waste the chance to pick her brain about how to become as successful as she is and how to deal with stumbles along the way.

“Have I ever gotten kicked in the face with the ball?” Solo said, repeating one of the questions. “I reckon every goalkeeper has, so yes, I have.”

One 14-year-ancient girl questioned two questions and had excellent reason to, because she has a lot in common with Solo, including a first name. Hope Butler plays soccer at Hermiston High School and has played goalie for several years. She brought her goalie jersey and joked that maybe she could trade with Solo.

“I just want to be like her,” Butler said.

Butler questioned Solo how she deals with frustration when she’s scored on and what she does when someone is driving the ball down the field to try to score on her. Butler said her own habit is to bounce on her knees and tap her fingers as the other team’s shooter approaches.

Solo said she gets very mad when she’s scored on, even when it’s a fantastic shot that’s tough to defend.

“You learn to channel that and turn that energy into something positive,” Solo said. “For me, I get more focused.”

She recalled in the Olympics, she surrendered two goals in the first two minutes of the first match, and her team lost to Norway, 2-0. She realized afterward she didn’t have time to feel sorry for herself because her team needed her.

In the gold medal match against Brazil, Solo made six saves and got the team into overtime before the U.S. won 1-0.

Friday’s homecoming was the latest step in a long journey for Solo, 27, who lives in Seattle.

She played soccer for Richland High School from 1996 to 1999 before playing for the University of Washington, where she set the school record of 18 shutouts.

She debuted for the U.S. national team in 2000, was drafted by the Philadelphia Charge in 2003, and later played in Sweden and France. Last month, she was drafted to play for the St. Louis franchise in the new Women’s Professional Soccer league, which is to start play in April.

Solo acknowledged the controversy she found herself in a year ago, when she publicly second-guessed her coach’s choice to bench her in the semi-final match of the World Cup. The U.S. lost 4-0 to Brazil in that match, a year ago today.

“I reckon we all know sometimes I can lose focus, sometimes I could say things maybe I shouldn’t say — maybe I should say,” she said with a slight laugh. “But I really had right guidance here in this community.”

She said she’s still getting used to being a role model, but that the responsibility means a lot to her.

“And I really, really pray one day I can look back at you guys and cheer you on in the stands as you play for your universities or as you play for Richland High or as you go on to hopefully play for the U.S. team,” she said, looking directly into the faces of the girls and boys in the audience.

Solo will sign autographs again from 10:30 to 11 a.m. today at the Richland City Honest on the city hall campus at George Washington Way and Swift Boulevard. Here is picture gallery