Team USA goalkeeper Hope Solo was benched before today's 4-0 loss to Brazil, and she isn't going to hold back on either her coach, Greg Ryan, or the more experienced goalie she was benched for, Briana Scurry. "It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that," she said. "There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is it's not 2004 anymore. ... It's 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. And you can't live by big names. You can't live in the past. It doesn't matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that's what I think."
Obviously, we'll never know if that's true or not, and even if she would have made those saves, Team USA might have lost anyway. But Ryan's job is to get his team ready to play, and his team wasn't ready to play today. Solo had tears in her eyes as she was speaking and might regret her emotional comments tomorrow. But that doesn't make them wrong.
Now the question: Who starts for Team USA in the third place game?
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 6)
1. I guess she is only a team player when she plays.
Posted at 12:13PM on Sep 27th 2007 by LB
2. LB: Would you rather have a goalie who says that benching him/her was the *right* decision? I wouldn't.
This is worse than when Wade Phillips benched Doug Flutie for Rob Johnson in 2000. You don't mess with success at this stage of the competition. Greg Ryan ought to be canned for this.
Posted at 12:19PM on Sep 27th 2007 by Dave
3. I'm with Solo - you can't bench a girl on a 41 game non-losing streak. If he had planned on playing Scurry, which Ryan says he was, she should have gotten in before today. she was flat. 2 near post goals were weak. WEAK
Posted at 12:29PM on Sep 27th 2007 by Matt
4. ryan screwed up. Hope may be wrong for speaking the truth but I can understand her emotion. This is just like Sampson in Paris. You run with what you brung, those that got you there. This is a tragedy, a coach who thinks he is what is important rather that the girls. Fire him!
Posted at 12:37PM on Sep 27th 2007 by mark
5. The team was disrupted by the goalie change even before the game started, no matter if the move was right or wrong.
Posted at 12:57PM on Sep 27th 2007 by Norb
6. Good for you Hope!
I'm sick of people tip toeing around a VERY poor coaching decision. It was a bad decision. He did not put the best team on the field and it is Ryan that is responsible. Brazil played wonderful soccer and I'm not sure the US would have won the game even if Hope had played in the net, but I do think it would have been a much closer match.
Posted at 1:18PM on Sep 27th 2007 by Laurie
7. I would agree this was the wrong decision. It would be a different circumstance if the USA and Hope would have lost some games, but they didn't. The coached messed with mental preparedness and this was an absolute distraction for the team. Way to lose this one Coach.
Posted at 1:19PM on Sep 27th 2007 by booe817
8. This day was coming.
US Soccer needs to recognize that a divided federation cannot win. Creativity, best talent, and effort was displayed by Brazil through diversity.
Skill, teamwork, and effort start from hungry players that want to play Sunday not wondering who is in goal
Sound like excuses to me.
Posted at 1:22PM on Sep 27th 2007 by Max
9. Ryan made the worst coaching decision I've ever seen at such a high level.
1) it undercut the #1 keeper;
2) Scurry had never played a minute in this World Cup, and hadn't played in a game that counted (other than friendlies) for years;
3) undermined team chemistry, first off because he said he discussed this with Scurry months ago. Why only with her? Why not with the Captain, Lilly, at the very least? And Solo and the entire team have to wonder why Ryan and Scurry kept this little conversation on the QT for months.
Plus, Scurry only featured in a few matches leading up to the World Cup, so doesn't have the advantage playing together all the time gives you.
Plus, all of Scurry's negatives: She never had Solo's athleticism and range, she kicks both punts and free kicks for less distance and accuracy, and she is 36 years old and rusty.
Ryan should be fired. The US needs a coach as good as the players who give their all for the team. His World Cup was as amateur as it gets.
Posted at 1:23PM on Sep 27th 2007 by truth
10. Brazil outplayed USA, it is as simple as that. Who was in the goal didn't make any difference. Brazil's better techniques were obvious. The US team relies on mainly on raw physical strength. The US women's contribution to soccer is raising its popularity to today's level, but its days of dominance are coming to a close as women from countries where men's soccer far exceeds the US men's level keep improving with better coaches
who know the game much better than their US counterparst.
Posted at 1:30PM on Sep 27th 2007 by yungsunhahn
11. A haunting loss. Most painful was having to watch their #1 keeper sitting on the bench while the team nosedived over the coach's apparent gambling habit. Who else would tinker with chemistry and solidarity on a whim, in the 11th hour? Even if they had lost badly with Hope in goal against Brazil, it would have been a valuable education. A crucible, to guide them into the next cup. Instead, the haunting will continue, as they struggle for third, then on to terminal navelgazing for several years, and for some, the rest of their lives. Purge the coach. I can't stand gamblers.
Posted at 1:38PM on Sep 27th 2007 by Richard
12. the coaching decision was probably a mistake but her comments show exactly the type of players that are groomed in the USA. Great to see a real team school them.
Posted at 1:40PM on Sep 27th 2007 by q
13. All of you criticizing Hope Solo for her comments need to pull your heads out of your rectums. What do you think Jordan would have said if he was in the same situation? Brady? Tiger Woods? Sometimes you need to throw your teammate under the bus. Briana Scurry was a slow, out-of-shape, disgrace out there. It would be like if the Broncos made it to the playoffs, get to the Super Bowl, and then Shanahan says "You know what? The last two times we won, John Elway was our quarterback. Jay, take a seat. I think I'm going to start John for this one." I'm glad Hope Solo has some guts and rejects this "Let's all be supportive and give hugs to everyone for giving a good effort, even though we lost." That's lawyer ball. That kind of thinking is why we have pampered, entitled young people who think the world owes them everything when they can't read, can't write and are so out of shape, the only sport America is going to be good at in twenty years is sumo wrestling and competitive hot dog eating.
Posted at 1:41PM on Sep 27th 2007 by Brian Wallace
14. They consider soccer a sport now?
Posted at 1:42PM on Sep 27th 2007 by skrunk
15. What's the worst thing about playing soccer? Having to tell your father you're gay.
Posted at 1:43PM on Sep 27th 2007 by skrunk
16. I do not understand the coach making that move after 40+ unbeaten games and Solo playing as well as she had. Her comments are a little ridiculous. How does she know she would have made those saves?
It is such a boneheaded coaching move that after 40+ unbeaten games, he deserves to be fired. Anyone who loses his mind at a time like that cannot be trusted in the future.
Here's my suspicion: If Briana Scurry comes in and shuts Brazil down, Ryan is the genius and gets credit for the WWC victory. It was probably an ego decision, designed to get the credit for brilliant coaching.
It backfired. Boy, did it backfire!
He has earned a spot of the Coach's Hall of Shame.
Posted at 1:52PM on Sep 27th 2007 by David Miller
17. Ryan has made bad decisions throughout the tournament and should resign after the team returns stateside. However, Solo's comments are horribly unfortunate as her emotions have clearly gotten the best of her. Whether right or wrong, being a team player requires a stiff upper lip when confonted with a situation like this. She is doing more damage to her team (and her international career) when they still have a game left in this tournament and an Olympic run on the horizon. I only wish Lilly or another veteran were ther to help her judgement.
Posted at 2:11PM on Sep 27th 2007 by Andrew
18. well done Skrunk...I think your break is over, put down your corndog and go back to manning the Tilt-A-Whirl
Posted at 2:48PM on Sep 27th 2007 by 4foosball
19. I'm glad Solo is speaking out. True, Brazil outplayed the US today, they had a phenominal game. But the fact of the matter is the chemistry wasn't there, there were communication errors between Scurry and the team, and Scurry was not anywhere near ready to play. She was put in for very specific reasons, and when the situations arose that she was put in for, she was scored on. If Ryan knew he was going to play her against Brazil back in June like he said, he should have been giving her more games so she would be ready. the mistakes just kept coming too, he puts in two defenders when theyre down 4-0???? Get some offensive attacks going! You need goals! Solo has the right to speak out and be pissed that she has brought this team this far and worked her ass off for them, and now has to sit and watch their World Cup dreams come to an end. It's also sad to see that Kristine Lily's second to last World Cup match has to go down like that. Ryan screwed his team on this one. I can't wait to see Solo back in action!!
Posted at 2:57PM on Sep 27th 2007 by Amy
20. If Hope Solo was a Jordan, Brady or Woods type of athlete she would be part of the coach's decision making process. That said, it was a bad move by the coach, mainly because Briana had no playing time. Solo was not playing a great goal in the tournament and all the coaches and players knew it. I coached football overseas and goalie controversy not withstanding, Brazil was the superior team by far today.
Posted at 3:18PM on Sep 27th 2007 by Roni