Hope Solo after USWNT loss: We lost to a bunch of cowards

Hope Solo didn’t hold back and subsequently had strong words for Sweden after the USWNT lost in the Olympics on Friday

No one in their right mind was expecting the USWNT to lose really at any point in the 2016 Rio Olympics. The United States were the clear favorites in the Olympics women’s soccer competition and seemed to be cruising. Any cruising came to an abrupt halt on Friday afternoon, though, against Sweden. After a hard-fought match from start to finish, the USWNT lost in penalties. It’s safe to say that Hope Solo was none too pleased about this.

After trying to show off her gamesmanship leading up to the final penalty, Hope Solo failed to make the save. She changed gloves and essentially tried to ice the Sweden shooter. So after she didn’t make the save and the USWNT loss, she was interviewed about the tough result. As the keeper for the United States often does, she ended up making some inflammatory comments.

Speaking on the result, Solo said that the USWNT lost to “a bunch of cowards” in Sweden. The keeper then added that “the better team” wasn’t the one going to the semifinals in Rio:

Even if you agree with Hope Solo that the better team didn’t win, this looks so horrible. It’s no wonder she was booed mercilessly throughout the tournament. You can’t behave and speak with this kind of arrogance so often and not garner a fair amount of disdain. Apparently she’s yet to learn that lesson, though.

If I had to guess, it’ll only be a matter of days before Solo either retracts or tries to make light of these post-match comments. That’s the pattern we’ve seen from her time and again. She’ll have time to think about what to say now, though, as the USWNT won’t be playing again in Rio.