Scurry Vs. Brazil, Nobody Would Care If Hope Solo Wasn't Hot

Have you heard? The U.S. women's soccer team lost in the World Cup semi-finals to Brazil, 4-0. The loss comes after a controversial goalkeeper switch made by coach Greg Ryan.

The night before the game, Ryan decided to bench Hope Solo, the goalkeeper who essentially got the US to the World Cup semi-final round, for Briana Scurry, the goalkeeper who has (err, had) never lost to Brazil.

The Solo vs. Scurry Goalkeeper Debate

Pro Solo: The U.S. women's soccer team had won the last 51 games with Hope Solo in the net for 50 of those games. Hope Solo had not allowed a goal for the last 300 minutes of play. The U.S. is on a streak. Hope Solo is on a streak. Don't mess with a streak.

Con Solo: Hope Solo has never played against Brazil.

Pro Scurry: Briana Scurry has more experience and a winning track record playing Brazil. And according to Coach Ryan, Scurry was making the kind of saves in practice necessary to win against Brazil.

Con Scurry: Briana Scurry had not played a full game in the past three months.

Ultimately, Coach Ryan went with stats over streaks to many people's surprise and Hope Solo's disappointment. A disappointment Hope Solo hasn't had a problem expressing... along with every guy who has ever seen a photo or YouTube video of Solo (as seen here). Seriously, if Solo is the only soccer player you can name on the US women's soccer team, you really don't get an opinion about this.

Solo Being Solo

Anyways, I feel for Solo. With the way she had played recently, she deserved a shot defending the U.S. against Brazil.

But in an interview after the team's four nothing loss to Brazil, Solo had this to say about the goalkeeper controversy:

"It was the wrong decision and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that... there's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves... and the fact of the matter is it's not 2004 anymore, it's 2007 and I think you have to live in the present and you can't live by big names, you can't live in the past, it doesn't matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago, now is what matters and that's what I think."