1. All Hope is Lost for U.S. Women’s Soccer

2. "There's always opportunities for reconciliation. This only just happened, and we'll work to try to get past this hurdle. … The main thing is that both parties are sincere and want to reconcile. If that happens, there’s a good shot.” -Solo had tears in her eyes as she was speaking and might regret her emotional comments tomorrow. But that doesn't make them wrong. -The fact that the attention switched so completely to Solo was in itself a surprise, given that she was essentially a powerless player with an opinion and Ryan was the person who made one of the most curious calls in sporting history. Regardless of the decision on whom should start and did ultimately play the, the after game comments of Hope Solo makes one think of what a great team player/teammate she is or in this case is not. She certainly echoes of a coddled, elitist, preened since childhood soccer mom's daughter. I certainly would not want her as a teammate. Support your team Hope and show some class. Google Video -As for Hope, she has apologized and said that she did not intend her comments to come across as a criticism of fellow keeper Brianna Scurry. -Solo couldn't play or train with the team and had to take her meals apart as the team shunned her. By Sunday evening, it was unclear if she would even fly back to the U.S. with the team she had been a part of for more than two years. -Hope Solo is the one person who had nothing, NOTHING, to do with the US Women's loss to Brazil, so I suppose it is natural that U.S. Soccer and the rest of the Women's team is scapegoating her for the troubles. -Hope Solo is the best goalkeeper in the U.S. There's not a person anywhere that will argue with this. Briana Scurry has some great moments in her career leading the U.S. but she's a shadow of what she once was. -Hope Solo can only dream of being Briana Scurry, on the field or off of it. -No doubt it showed very poor character and no class for Hope Solo to whine after the U.S.' loss to Brazil. Any athlete knows that you don't slam your teammates when the going gets tough. It just showed how little commitment she has to her teammates. Google Blog Search -Still, Solo apologized Friday for the way her comments were interpreted as a direct slight at Scurry, but she held steadfast in maintaining her criticism of Ryan's decision. -"Players have the right to say whatever they want to say," Ryan said. "You want to go out in front of everybody and stand together." -While Solo's actions were clearly -unacceptable in a team context, there was a touching back-story that made her emotional reaction understandable, at least to one side in the public debate: Her father, Jeffrey, died of heart failure June 15 at 69. -I’m not going to pretend to know enough about the relative merits of each player. But if Briana Scurry was the better player, she should have been in there the entire tournament. -Team leader Kristine Lilly, who played in her fifth and perhaps final World Cup, told the press that Solo "going public has affected the whole group, and having her with us would still be a distraction.” -We all can agree Ryan failed his team. But Solo's attacking her teammate was cheap, not brave. Google News Neutral Quotes Positive Quotes Negative Quotes

3. On Thursday, U.S. coach Greg Ryan benched starter Hope Solo, who recorded 300 shut-out minutes after conceding two goals while down a player in the first rain-soaked match against North Korea. Hope Solo had played in all but seven games of a 50-game undefeated streak. -Hope Solo was just exercising her right to free speech, and she seemed to have ruffled a few feathers. Just because she pulls on a shirt with the Stars and Stripes on it, doesn’t mean she should keep her mouth shut, in fact, she should be more free with her speech than anyone. God bless her. -You don't say that your teammate did terrible and that you would have done way better. It's not flattering, first of all. -But if you have a problem with him or your teammates, you take it up with them in private. You do not come out on national television and throw them under the bus, then think you can make it all go away with a lame fake apology on a website. BlogPulse -“We have moved forward with 20 players who have stood by each other, who have battled for each other," Ryan told reporters Saturday. "And when the hard times came -- and the Brazil game was a hard time -- they stood strong. Now it's the 20 who have stuck together who will be ready to go out and compete against Norway.“ Yep, Hope Solo has been declared persona non grata. -She said the right thing just in the wrong way. Okay, she probably shouldn't have said anything but come on, she was playing great leading up to the semifinal then her coach benches her for some crazy reason. I don't think she meant to attack Briana Scurry, just point out that Scurry wasn't the team's number one heading into the cup, so why make the change? -Solo apologized at a team meeting afterwards, but the damage was done to team moral. Team sports have no room for ego centered athletes who think the game is all about them rather then team victories. She should have been disciplined. Technorati -Unbeaten Solo is benched by coach Greg Ryan for veteran goalkeeper Briana Scurry in Thursday's crucial semifinal game with Brazil. Then the team suffered its worst loss in its 22-year history as Brazil dances its way to a stunning and embarrassing 4-0 win. -Having not allowed a goal for over 300 minutes in the Women’s World Cup, she was, without a doubt, the best goalie in the tournament. The US Women were expected to take the World Cup home from Beijing, and were more exposed to the public this time around (just ask Jim Mike). With Solo at goal, that simple expectation was nothing less than a done deal. -Solo violated one of sport's biggest unwritten rules: Thou shalt not publicly criticize your coach or teammates. -Her comments make it sound like if she was playing team USA wins, but without her, its a team full of scrubs…this on top of the obviously negative light it shines on Scurry. Ask.com Blog Search Neutral Quotes Positive Quotes Negative Quotes

4. "She's made a mistake and she knows that," Ryan added. "Believe me, I've made a tons of mistakes in my life – bigger than bigger than Hope’s.” -The team banished Solo, who had started the first four games of the World Cup, because she reacted to being benched for Thursday’s 4-0 semifinal loss to Brazil by criticizing not only the decision but the play of her replacement, veteran goalie Briana Scurry. -Embattled Team USA goalie Hope Solo has had a rough week... First she gets benched for a goalie who hadn't played in three months and then she has to take heat for speaking out about her displeasure. -"It is an unwritten code of conduct that you don't do that to a player. This is a coach's decision so, if anyone, she could have made Coach Ryan the villain but instead she chose to attack a player, Brianna Scurry. To make the decision to go in front of a camera, if I'm a player-I don't think I want Hope in goal behind me.“ -"It just goes to show you have to be professional all the time and you have to watch what you say," Wambach said. Digg -As most folks now know, Coach Ryan benched a dominant and effective Hope Solo for the aging veteran who had not seen much action. Solo handled the decision as well as could be expected at first, but after the team unraveled and failed to appear in the championship game, she ripped the coach. -I agree with Solo that she should be able to speak her mind because she got benched for doing absolutely nothing wrong, and the coach just cost the team an opportunity to play in the championships. Ryan should not head the U.S. team at next year’s Olympics and hopefully, Solo can return to the team soon to head the goal-keep for the United States Women. -I'm sure that every woman on the team felt down and perhaps a bit angry about the game, but that is no excuse for Hope Solo to bash her coach and another teammate. Icerocket Neutral Quotes Positive Quotes Negative Quotes