“Hope Solo vs US Soccer” (2024), available on Netflix, is one of the recent chapters of the good series “Untold”, which tells stories, with a behind-the-scenes dive, of cases and characters from the sport – not just the soccer.
For Brazil, the translation was “Hope Solo x US Football”, a title that, like the original, is exaggerated, since the 74-minute film is not exclusively centered on a dispute between the player and US Soccer (the federation local) or football in the country as a whole.
It’s the story of the life of Solo, one of the best goalkeepers football has ever seen (perhaps the best), who is portrayed in the film directed by American Nina Meredith.
A life whose childhood and adolescence was, according to the narration, very different from that of her future US teammates.
Solo started playing soccer thanks to her father, Jeffrey, who encouraged her to chase the ball since she was little in the city of Richland, Washington, a state on the west coast that borders Canada.
The girl adored Jeffrey, an Italian-American who fought in the Vietnam War and who later faced social problems that took him away from his second family – it was discovered that he had another – and made him homeless, living literally in the middle of the woods. , in a forest.
One of the most moving moments in the narrative occurs when, while in high school, Solo was playing football in a public place and, as she looked around, she said to her best friend: “I think that’s my father over there.” It was.
From then on there was a happy reunion, with Jeffrey following his daughter closely at school games, where she was a top-class striker, and then at the University of Washington, in Seattle, where she became a goalkeeper.
This transformation, the change of position, was due to the advice of her coach in higher education, who stated that she would have a better chance of making the American team using her hands, not her feet.
Even against her will – she mentioned that they were the worst players who went for the goal –, Solo agreed, quickly becoming a spectacular goalkeeper, with brilliant saves. The jump to the national team didn’t take long.
After some time as Briana Scurry’s reserve, ten years older and Olympic champion in 1994 and 2004 and world champion in 1999, Solo won, at the age of 26, the starting line-up at the 2007 World Cup in China. This was shortly after a huge blow, the death of his father.
They managed to deal with the loss, had safe performances and went three of the first four games without conceding a goal. Even so, surprisingly, it was picked up by coach Greg Ryan for the semi-final against Brazil.
The veteran Scurry played, who, on a day of Marta’s stupendous performance, conceded four goals in the 4-0, with an apparent error in two of them.
After that game, Solo, who was stunned on the bench, openly showed her strong personality for the first time and declared to journalists that “yes, I would have saved those balls”, in criticism of her non-listing.
Enough to become, not publicly, execrated by the team. Marginalized.
An unwritten law says that you cannot publicly expose someone on the team; in this case, the respected Scurry. Solo, according to herself, was abandoned on Chinese soil and did not return to the USA with the delegation.
Even though she was the best, she was no longer called up. She ended up rescued by Swedish coach Pia Sundhage – who would manage Brazil from 2019 to 2023 –, Ryan’s replacement and who convinced Team USA (top hats and players) of the importance of the then number 18 shirt.
Importance exposed on the field. In the following years, already with the number 1 shirt, two Olympic gold medals (2008 and 2012) and a runner-up world championship (2011) lost in the penalty shootout, accompanied by fame off the field.
In addition to being competent in goal, Solo was beautiful and popular, which attracted sponsors, who wanted to relate their products and image to her, and the media.
He participated in the popular television program “Dancing with the Stars”, appeared on the covers of prestigious magazines and released an autobiography.
However, winning a World Cup was missing. It happened in 2015, in Canada. On the way to the final, in six games, Solo was not leaked in five. After the decision, 5-2 in Japan, she received the trophy for best goalkeeper at the World Cup.
The year before this glory, Solo had his first serious problem in his private life. Her half-sister accused her of assault. The goalkeeper allegedly hit her and her 17-year-old son.
A lawsuit was opened, and the national team star claimed that there was a fight and that she acted in self-defense. The action ended up being closed due to lack of cooperation from the alleged victims.
In 2016, Solo returned to the Olympic Games, participating in Rio-2016. In the quarterfinals, the opponent was the Swedes, coached by Pia Sundhage, who set up a defense to hold back the powerful rival attack. 1-1 took the duel to penalties, and won Sweden.
Solo did not spare what he considered anti-gaming. He called the Europeans “a bunch of cowards” when he stated that the best team did not win. The statement had bad repercussions, less with the International Olympic Committee and Sweden, more with US Soccer.
Once again, she was sidelined, and this time to never return to the team. The federation, alleging misconduct, terminated its activities with the team, maintained by a contract that involved monetary remuneration.
For Solo, the reason went beyond the phrase related to Swedish women, being related to general behavior. A retaliation for his insistent position that the women’s team, recognized and winning, would have equal rights (financial and structural) with the men’s team, with poor results.
At the time, there was mobilization, with individual and collective legal actions involving the goalkeeper. Years later, in an agreement, US Soccer allocated US$24 million to the women’s team, and players celebrated.
Solo, no. She considered the agreement restricted to a group of athletes and very far from what was initially intended.
Former teammates, including stars such as Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, had no opinion. According to what was exposed in the film, they refused to participate in the production.
Unloved and excluded, Solo took longer than usual to obtain a place in the US Soccer Hall of Fame. It was only included in 2022, receiving the honors last year, after undergoing a rehabilitation program due to alcohol addiction.
The documentary implies that she had had problems with alcohol for a few years. During the period of wide exposure in the media, the goalkeeper stated that she frequently consumed wine and sparkling wine, as a way of reducing stress and pressure.
A remarkable scene, she is detained by the police after being approached while dozing in her car in the parking lot of a hypermarket. The dialogue denotes her drunkenness. Two-year-old twins Vittorio Genghis and Lozen Orianna Judith were in the backseat.
Solo recognizes the seriousness of the mistake, saying that one day he will have to talk to his children about what happened. It is her most bitter moment, overcoming the lack of a farewell game for the American team, a practice for all legendary players – except for her.
Hope Solo’s story, told from her own perspective, is a film that makes the viewer question how devalued she was. What if “USA football” was indeed his enemy?
