Hope Solo scolded, not punished, for Twitter rant

Solo Hope of the U.S. in action during the Women's Football first round Group G match between United States and Colombia on Day 1 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Hampden Park on July 28, 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland. / Stanley Chou/Getty Images

(CBS/AP) MANCHESTER, England - Hope Solo met with the coach and captains of the U.S. women's soccer team Sunday to discuss her latest outburst of candor, a Twitter rant that did no good for the image of the squad and distracted from preparations for the upcoming game against North Korea in the Olympic tournament.

Coach Pia Sundhage said Solo will not be disciplined for the series of tweets that criticized former U.S. player Brandi Chastain's commentary during the NBC broadcast of the Americans' 3-0 win over Colombia on Saturday.

"We had a conversation: If you look at the women's national team, what do you want (people) to see? What do you want them to hear?" Sundhage told reporters at the team hotel. "And that's where we do have a choice — as players, coaches, staff, the way we respond to certain things."

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Hope Solo

Solo rattled off four tweets following Saturday's game, upset over Chastain's criticisms of the team's defensive play.

"Its 2 bad we cant have commentators who better represents the team&knows more about the game," tweeted Solo. She also told Chastain to "lay off commentating about defending" and goalkeeping "until you get more educated" and "the game has changed from a decade ago."

Those are hardly the type of positive comments the naturally upbeat Sundhage likes to hear, especially in the middle of one of the sport's biggest showcases.

"On the field, it's OK to make a mistake. There's no such thing as a perfect game," Sundhage said. "And sometimes you make a mistake outside the field as well. Myself as well. I've regretted that I've said that or whatever, but at the end of the day if you have good teammates and recognize it and say something that we are proud of, then it is easier to prepare for the next game — because it's all about the next game."

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The meeting with Solo took place after the team arrived in Manchester, where the Americans (2-0) will play the North Koreans on Tuesday in a game that will determine pairings for the quarterfinals. Co-captain Abby Wambach said the meeting lasted about five minutes.

The team said will Solo be available for comment Monday, following a walkthrough at Old Trafford. She did take to Twitter again on Sunday, however, to respond to a reporter's tweet that she wouldn't be disciplined.

"discipline? Ha! For what! Never even a topic! We talked about our team deserving the best!" she tweeted.

Chastain, one of the most accomplished players in U.S. team history, refused to be drawn into the fray.

"I'm here to do my job, which is to be an honest and objective journalist at the Olympics, nothing more than that," said Chastain, who earned 192 caps from 1988-2004 and is best known for scoring the decisive penalty kick in the World Cup final in 1999.

Wambach said the meeting focused on the goal of maintaining a "bubble" around the team during the Olympics.

"We just wanted to get on the same page on the things that we are focused on," Wambach said. "And the things that we're going to be talking about, whether it be in the media or behind closed doors with your teammates. ... We have to appreciate different people's personalities and their opinions. However, we also want to create a bubble. We want to create some sort of symmetry in terms of what we're doing here and why we're here, and that's what we're all about."

Wambach also noted that TV commentators have nothing to do with winning gold medals.

"At the end of the day, none of it matters," Wambach said. "Because what really does matter is the results."

Sundhage said she didn't tell Solo to stop tweeting or to tone it down.

"I don't punish people," Sundhage said. "And I don't know what's right and wrong."

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Portraits of Team USA 2012

Five years ago, Solo expressed an opinion that made her the recipient of the starkest punishment ever dealt to a U.S. women's national team player. She was essentially kicked off the squad at the 2007 World Cup after she criticized then-coach Greg Ryan for benching her for the semifinals.

She made her way back onto the team to become arguably the best goalkeeper in team history, anchoring the gold-medal run at the 2008 Olympics and winning the golden glove award for top goalie at last year's World Cup in Germany.

Now she's a media superstar, highlighted by her appearance on "Dancing With the Stars" last fall, and she hasn't stopped making waves. Three weeks ago, she had what is believed to be the first positive drug test in the history of the program, receiving a warning over the banned substance Canrenone. She said it resulted from a premenstrual medication prescribed by her doctor.

Solo was also one of several athletes quoted extensively in an ESPN The Magazine story about sex in the athletes village during the Beijing Olympics.

"Athletes are extremists," Solo told the magazine. "When they're training, it's laser focus. When they go out for a drink, it's 20 drinks. With a once-in-a-lifetime experience, you want to build memories, whether it's sexual, partying or on the field. I've seen people having sex right out in the open. On the grass, between buildings, people are getting down and dirty."

She has also been promoting her book "A Memoir of Hope," scheduled for release two days after the London Games.

Nevertheless, Sundhage said she's not concerned about Solo's focus.

"Hope is different," Sundhage said. "What I see is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. If you look back, she's been dancing with the stars, she'd been in a lot of media, she's done this and that, and you would think, 'Well, will she ever come back to the game and will this be a distraction?' If you look at the way she played the first two games, I would say no. She's ready. She prepared. She wants to win, and she know what she needs to do."

[livingtxlife]

Yes you have the right to say what you want, but there are also consequences. I get tired of everyone thinking that because some don't like what someone is saying that "the thought police" are out to get them.

Humans judge one another - just going to happen. I'm glad I live in a country where I can say what I want, but personally that doesn't mean I handle everything publicly - my children would be mortified.

[credibility2]

Unless all of these devices are banned and muzzles worn, that's life.

[klusk66]

THEY BOTH HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY WHAT THEY WANT. You want to criticize the team? Go for it, just don't be upset if someone's opinion doesn't jibe with yours. Feeling under-appreciated and you want to shut "commentators" up? That's easy, produce results on the field. At the end of the day it's about winning with the team. Leave it all on the field, no regrets. GO USA!

[canislupus16]

Sounds like Solo didn't get the message on a few levels. Still making the focus about her instead of the team, still being distracted by and making a big deal out of - of all things - a reporter's question, turning her own distraction into another team distraction, and ripping off a tweet that was hardly positive. She better hope (no pun intended) that she is error free through the rest of the Games.

Apart from that, Twitter or tweeting or whatever it's called is just plain asinine. Anybody who thinks (and celebrities, sports figures, politicians seem to be at the top of the list) what you have to say in a clipped, punctuated sound bite phrase really has ego problems.

[alpinequeen]

There is a difference between free speech and being rude...

[democracy8]

hicks76: Freedom of speech does NOT mean you are free of the consequences of your speech. If you really believe that, go tell your boss in no uncertain terms what a jerk you think he is and see where THAT gets you.

[travelers345]

She comes across as immature and, well, lacking intelligence.

[jnostromo]

So let's see..she is representing the land of the free and home of the brave , but she cannot speak freely...Sorry, but free speech is a founding principle and she has every right to voice her opinions no matter who doesn't like them. It is time for this country to stop all the political correctness bs and go back to allowing truly free speech.

[krislo13]

She certainly has the right to say what she wants, but if she could show any level of maturity she might realize that she is representing her team and her country. She is nothing but a media ***** and I for one wish she would go play for Brazil. She hasn't even made one decent save this Olympics.

[bobnjersey]

[don't give your honest opinion on twitter, only use the liberal politically correct words, they permit you to use....modify that thinking, quickly or face the wrath of liberalism.]
------------------------------------------------
yes ... it's the big bad liberal boogeyman that's the problem here.

do you ever wonder why you're so obsessed w/ having liberals as your nemesis ... your enemy ... the source of all that's bad in your view of the world?

everything you don't like ... you don't agree with ... you see as wrong ... it's all the result of the liberal conspiracy ... executed thru 'the media' ... or whomever is currently speaking in opposition to 'what you believe'.

do you think that's normal?

[Kieren1]

Big ego and little respect ... zip it and show your mettle on the pitch ...

[jnostromo]

Sorry, but America was founded on freedom, she has every right to say what she thinks..You don't have to agree with it, but she has every right to say it...

[livingtxlife]

And we have every right to share how she sounds to others when she prattles on like that.

[EmpireGeorge______--]

The thought police are back in action, don't give your honest opinion on twitter, only use the liberal politically correct words, they permit you to use....modify that thinking, quickly or face the wrath of liberalism.

[erasmus111]

Shut up, George. You show how obsessed and out of control you are when you keep bringing the "libs" into everything.