Hope Solo explains ‘cowards’ comments on Swedish television

Hope Solo went on a Swedish talk show to explain the comments she made following the U.S.’s loss in the Olympics.

Hope Solo went on a Swedish talk show to explain the comments she made following the U.S.’s loss in the Olympics.

Solo appeared on Friday elaborating on what she meant by calling the Swedish team “a bunch of cowards,” noting that she felt she came across more aggressively in the media than in person.

Solo was widely panned for the comments and was suspended from U.S. Soccer as a result. Sweden’s head coach is former USWNT boss Pia Sundhage, which magnified the scrutiny.

"If anyone actually listened to the interview, and I'm not sure if you have, I wasn't enraged, I wasn't emotional, I wasn't angry. I Just had this conversation with the journalists in the room," Solo says. "... I didn't mean to come across that the players were cowards or the coach was a coward. I meant the style of play wasn't very Olympic-spirited."

Solo also said she is friends with Swedish striker Lotta Schelin, who, according to Solo, was disappointed that Sweden chose not to play more of an attacking style and understood Solo's comments.

It’s unclear at this point whether Solo, 35, will return to the U.S. national team. She had her national team contract terminated by U.S. Soccer in light of her remarks and is suspended for six months. When asked at the NWSL final whether she had considered bringing Solo back, U.S. manager Jill Ellis said she had not given any thought to it.