In the aftermath of the abysmal performance of TEAM USA in the 2007 WWC semi-final against Brazil on Thursday morning, all the buzz is about Hope Solo.
In a very questionable move, USA coach Greg Ryan started legendary keeper , world cup winner, and olympic gold medalist (and UMASS grad) Brianna Scurry over Solo. His rationale, Brianna has been playing well in practice, and is unbeaten against Brazil. According to Ryan, Scurry's reaction time in certain areas of the pitch were better suited against Brazil than Solo.
So instead of sitting down like "a good girl" and keeping her mouth shut; Solo did what most star keepers would have done. She spoke up.
Going into the semi's, Hope had three clean sheets in a row, and had outstanding performance against North Korea despite letting a very slippery ball through her hands. By all rights the starting position was hers. She didn't do anything to lose the position. So before the match, she went on air and said she wasn't happy about it, but it was the coach's decision, and she had to live with it.
Maybe she knew something Ryan didn't, but the Brazilian team was not phased by the tactical move.
After an own goal by Leslie Osborne and an immediate follow up goal from Brazilian ace, Marta, it began to look as if Ryan had made the wrong decision. Now the own goal was all on Osborne, although Scurry should have called her off. It was a bad judgment call by the defender. However the other goal scored in the first half was pure quality. To get that kind of shot off in traffic takes skill.
But then it unraveled rather quickly for the US. After a bizarre call against Shannon Boxx resulted in a second yellow sent her off, Brazil took over, scoring a third goal from Christiane. But instead of going for more offense, Greg Ryan makes three defensive substitutions. The Brazilians literally danced their way through the rest of the game, scoring a fourth goal in the 79th minute, with Marta driving in the final nail in the coffin. The US lacked the offense, and lost all cohesion in their backfield.
Then Solo spoke out again, much to the dismay of the US Soccer PR department.
She said that it was the wrong decision to switch keepers, and anyone who knew anything about soccer would tell you that. She said she could have made those saves. She said it was wrong to make decisions based on something that happened in the past.
You know what? She's right.
As a former, second string, goalkeeper (high school), I learned the hard way that you have to play the hot hand. If you have an Ace on the bench it doesn't do you any good on the bench. Look at Tim Howard and Casey Keller. Keller is a legend, but Howard was the in form keeper at the Gold Cup, and probably also the 2006 World Cup. Same goes for Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann, except in the Germans case, they got it right (nearly). The decision to start Scurry was wrong. That's what Solo said. Granted it was in the heat of the moment, but it was the truth.
Of course the media has spun it around saying that Solo was criticizing her fellow teammate Scurry. Nonsense. If she was criticizing anybody, she was criticizing her coach. She said it was the wrong decision. Well it wasn't Scurry's decision, it was Ryan's. And the statement she made saying that she believed she could have made those saves was not so much a knock on Scurry as it was a firm belief in her own ability and her rapport with her teammates. She had just come off three clean sheets in a row...having shut down one of the more prolific scorers in the tournament in England's Kelly Smith.
Julie Foudy, a legend in her own right, has said that never in the history of the team has anyone criticized a teammate like Solo did and to do so was a breach of some unwritten code. This would be the code that she herself co-authored with Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Kristine Lilly and Brianna Scurry.
Well Julie, despite having more soccer knowlege in her left foot than most of America has collectively, is flat off the mark on this one. As previously stated, Solo was attacking Ryan's decision, a decision that was based on past performance and performance in practice, and not Scurry's talent.
And maybe Julie is living a little in the past too. After all would her coach, Hall of Fame Coach Tony DiCicco, have made such a roster change? I doubt it.
Which brings us to Coach Greg Ryan, who undefeated in 51 straight games (including a match against Brazil), decided not to go with the hot hand but play a wild card instead. I could understand making the switch if Solo had played badly, but this was not the case. I could also understand him making a substitution if the match was tied and it looked as if the game were heading for penalties, for Scurry has an awesome record in shootout decisions. Or even if Solo was clearly not in the game - all these would be valid reasons to bring in Scurry. But to make a tactical decision before the game is even played, to change the anchor of the defense without having a single goal scored against her in three consecutive matches, to effectively handicap your own team the night before the semifinal of the world cup is complete lunacy.
Solo, in my opinion, will likely not start on Sunday, as punishment. But if she doesn't I would resign from the team until a coaching change is made. Solo is a star keeper and she deserves the start. She is an Ace, and she should be treated like an Ace. The coach, however is not playing with a full deck.
