U.S. women’s national team legend Hope Solo believes there are no weaknesses in Vlatko Andonovski’s side going into the Olympic Games, meaning there should be no reason to lose in Japan.
Solo joined Goal ’s new podcast, All Of US: The U.S. Women's Soccer Show, to preview the upcoming tournament, which gets under way on Wednesday July 21.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup winner also reflected on the controversy that occurred five years ago, when Sweden eliminated the U.S. at the 2016 Games and Solo was suspended by U.S. Soccer for comments made in the aftermath.
‘I don’t see one weakness in the USWNT’
“You look at the players, spectacular players across the board, I don't see one weakness on this side," Solo told Goal. "They shouldn't lose. They absolutely should not lose because of the talent on the field.
“The coach - everybody I know, everybody I've spoken to, players and coaches alike, have a lot of respect for Vlatko, but I think it's very important to keep in mind this is his first international tournament.
“What I have seen in my experience is it's not always about the coach. The coach, the manager, can bring those details, they can help teams win, absolutely. But I have also seen teams win without the organization skills of certain managers so I'm really curious to see how Vlatko is going to do in his first international tournament.
“I have heard and I've seen a little bit of the nerves, a little bit of a lack of organization going in to Japan, and I've seen it with every single coach I've ever played for before every major tournament. We have to remember, managers and coaches, they get nervous too and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It just means that they care as well.”
‘We were ill-prepared for Rio 2016’
The first opponent for the U.S. this summer will be Sweden, who knocked them out in the quarter-finals five years ago. In the wake of that defeat, Solo called her opposition “a bunch of cowards”, referring to their defensive game plan.
Reflecting on those comments today, Solo said: “I'm not going to apologize for being a poor sport. I was p*ssed. I was hurt. We're there to give it our all.
“Our team was ill prepared. We didn't show up to play great soccer - and Sweden, I wanted to go one on one against one of the best forwards in the world, Lotta Schelin. To see her drop back into her 18-yard box, it was tough because when you're playing for your country at the Olympics, it's about leaving it all on the line.
“You're playing with your heart and with passion and to see them drop back defensively, I was p*ssed, and so I ended up calling them cowards. But all was forgiven, we moved on and I have great relationships with the Swedish national team and my friends in Sweden.
Asked if she would do things differently if she could, Solo added: “I think you see male athletes all over the world be angry when they lose and make comments. I think I definitely took a lot of heat, unnecessary heat, for it.
“I made apologies to the people I needed to apologize [to]. The media, they ran with it. But no, I can look at myself in the mirror. At least I cared about losing. I had many teammates who went to party in Rio and didn't really care that we lost the game.”
The Sweden team that Andonovski’s side will face on Wednesday gave them a real scare back in April, almost beating them but for a late, controversial penalty securing the U.S. a 1-1 draw.
“They kind of have everything in their bag,” Solo said, asked what makes them such a challenge. “They're great on set pieces. They have strong goalkeeping. I don't know what it is. It's almost like they got in our heads and they gained some confidence in winning once.
“No disrespect to them, they're a great team with a lot of talent, but I don't have the answer on why they continue to make it very difficult for the United States, because as I said earlier, player for player, the United States should be winning every game.”