Hope Solo to sit out remainder of NWSL season
Goalkeeper Hope Solo, suspended by the U.S. national team last week, said Tuesday she would not play again this season for the Seattle Reign, her club team in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Solo was allowed to miss last weekend’s Reign game while on “personal leave.” On Tuesday she released a statement saying she would miss the final four games of the season as well.
“Mentally, I am not there,” said Solo, who stopped short of calling her decision a retirement from soccer.
Solo, 35, was given a six-month suspension by U.S. Soccer and her contract with the national team was terminated last week over intemperate comments she made following the U.S. team’s loss to Sweden in the quarterfinals of the Olympic soccer tournament. Solo has made 202 international appearances for the U.S., winning 153 games and posting 102 shutouts. All those numbers are records.
But Solo, who called the Swedes “a bunch of cowards” for playing a defensive game before beating the U.S. in a penalty-kick shootout,” also set a record for off-the-field controversy and chaos. Over the last decade she has been charged with two counts of domestic violence, failed a drug test, was riding shotgun in a team van when her husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens, was arrested for DUI, admitted she appeared on national television drunk and was suspended from the U.S. team three times.
Still the U.S. Soccer Federation’s decision to cut ties with her has been difficult to accept, Solo said.
“Coming to terms with the fact I was fired from the U.S. women’s national team after 17 years of service has been devastating,” she wrote. “After careful consideration, I have decided to end my season with the Seattle Reign, an organization I love playing for….
“I truly believe this decision is what’s best for me and for the Reign organization.”
Solo will get three months’ severance pay from U.S. Soccer, which also paid her salary in the NWSL. She is eligible to be called back by the national team in February even though her contract has been terminated.
kevin.baxter@latimes.com
