Hope Solo’s post-match reaction on Monday night stunned the media. “We made her look good. We didn't win those air battles,” she said as she downplayed the greatness of Canada’s Christine Sinclair.
The 31-year-old goalie later apologized by giving credit to Sinclair via Twitter. However, the talking point remains Hope Solo’s relationship with USA’s defenders. Did she really have to throw the blame on her defenders in public?
Hope Solo represents the last line in defence for USA. Her performance will have a great impact in the final. Most importantly, her chemistry with the back line is what will count. If the Americans want to win, they must put up a tight show in defence.
USA can learn from their defeat to Japan at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The Asians are excellent in every part of the field and their mental power is hard to manipulate. They have conceded only twice thus far.
The Japanese have a very compact team. At the other end of the field, they do not rely on one or two specific players to score the goals. Statistics speak for themselves. Yuki Ogimi stands as Japan’s top scorer at London 2012 with a couple of goals only. Japan’s five other strikes in the competition has come from five different women.
That said, the Americans will probably not opt to mark a particular Japanese player. Hope Solo and her defenders will need to stay alert throughout the game.
Only few, if not no-one, can deny the fact that the USA got hugely favoured by Norwegian referee Christina Pedersen in the semis. This is the kind of “luck” that no professional athlete must desire for the sake of sportsmanship and soccer. There is now a need for the United States to redeem their image by beating Japan and beating them cleanly.
After the team’s controversial 4-3 victory over Canada, there is no doubt about what needs to be treated: defensive lapses. Technically, Hope Solo was arguably right. The Americans did not win air battles and nearly got punished for their blunders.
Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan have all showed their glittering colours for USA at London 2012. They have proven to be big-game players.
For the ultimate time, they will need to produce yet another heroic performance but the one that needs to be up for it the most is the ever-controversial and outspoken Hope Solo. Can the Americans win their fourth set of gold medals at the Olympics?
