U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo to have shoulder surgery

U.S. women's national team goalkeeper Hope Solo has decided to undergo shoulder surgery on Sept. 22. Renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews will perform the procedure on her right shoulder in Birmingham, Ala., and Solo's rehabilitation is expected to take five-six months.

When healthy, Solo has been the U.S. team's first-choice goalkeeper since the beginning of 2005. Over that period, she has accumulated 91 caps, the second most in U.S. history for her position. Solo also played 22 WPS matches this year for both the St. Louis Athletica and the Atlanta Beat and was by far the league-leader in saves with 104.

"These next two years are huge for the national team with the World Cup and Olympics on the horizon and I wanted to make sure that I would be giving my team and my country my best on the field," said Solo in a press release. "I've been having some painful issues with the shoulder for a while and for a goalkeeper it's been difficult physically and mentally to play with this kind of an injury, so it was time to get it taken care of. I know I'm in the best hands and I plan on working diligently on my rehab to get back to one hundred percent. In the meantime, I know my teammates will get us to the World Cup and I can't wait to join them next spring."