Ex US footballer Hope Solo seeks comeback overseas, hints at Sweden as possible destination

Hope Solo says she’s received several offers to play overseas and could even continue her career in Sweden, whose fans she enraged by describing their national team as “cowards” at the Rio Olympics. [caption id=“attachment_3053550” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Hope Solo. AFP[/caption] In a talk show aired late Friday on Swedish television network SVT, the American goalkeeper said she is still reeling from being kicked out by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), and suggested it was partly due to her advocacy for women’s rights. “I don’t really know where I’m going with my life right now,” she said. “It is still very painful. But to be honest, the past 30 plus days I’ve had the opportunity to be home. And not travel as much. And to enjoy my family, my dogs and my husband.” Solo, who announced her departure from Seattle Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League at the end of August, insisted she hasn’t retired. “I have had a lot of offers to play overseas. So maybe Sweden will welcome me back,” she said, but didn’t give any details. Solo apologized for saying Sweden played like a “bunch of cowards” after they eliminated the US in the quarterfinals of the Olympics, saying she wasn’t talking about the players or the coach, but their style of play. “It wasn’t very Olympic-spirited,” Solo said. The US Soccer Federation suspended Solo for six months and terminated her contract, saying it was the result of several missteps. “There are more layers to it that I don’t think everybody quite understands,” Solo said in the interview, which was pre-recorded in New York on 22 September . “I believe the federation used my comment, saying the word ‘cowards’, to terminate me.” When talk show host Fredrik Skavlan asked if she meant there were other reasons for it, Solo said: “I’ve been the lead voice behind the push for equal pay. In fact in all the court documents it says Hope Solo vs. United States Soccer Federation.” Solo and four other US players accused the federation of wage discrimination in an action filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April. “This is a fight worth fighting and I’m going to be on the right side of history at the end of all of this,” Solo said in the interview. Solo has had plenty of run-ins with teammates and coaches over the years. She still faces a possible trial on misdemeanor domestic violence charges after a 2014 incident at her sister’s home. She served a month-long suspension last year for being in a team van when her husband was arrested on drunken-driving charges. Solo became the first goalkeeper with 100 international shutouts just before the Olympics when the United States defeated South Africa 1-0 in Chicago. The 35-year-old currently has 153 career victories and 102 clean sheets.