The U.S. women’s national team thrived during the 2011 World Cup by staying insulated from the support, coverage and fervor that grew exponentially at home as it played and advanced to the final.
So far at the London Olympics, Hope Solo has done the opposite. Not only did she make the mistake of making herself aware of what was said by NBC color analyst and former U.S. teammate Brandi Chastain during the U.S. team’s 3-0 win over Colombia on Saturday, she then took to Twitter to vent.
“Lay off commentating about defending and gking until you get more educated @brandichastain the game has changed from a decade ago. #fb,” wrote Solo, who will not face discipline for the tweets. “Its 2 bad we cant have commentators who better represents the team&knows more about the game @brandichastain! #fb”
Solo has never been afraid of expressing her opinion; it’s a part of her legacy as much as her acrobatic saves.
But this particular rant also may have exposed a lingering rift between the current U.S. team — or Solo at the very least — and those who were part of the previous generation. Ironically, establishing a legacy separate from the 1999 World Cup winners was part of what the current group did in Germany last year.
Now those wounds have been reopened. Defender Heather Mitts took to Twitter to try and make peace.
“Let’s admire the old and embrace the new,” Mitts said. “We overcame a lot out there today and answered with 3 goals. Happy & looking forward to N.Korea.”
– Craig Stouffer
