Aline: Brazil won’t be sad if ‘controversial’ Solo skips Olympics
Former Brazil star Aline says the Brazilian team won’t be sad over the potential absence of U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo from the upcoming Olympics.
Solo told SI.com earlier this month that she was considering sitting out the Olympics due to concerns over the Zika virus and that as of now, she would skip the competition entirely.
Aline, the captain of Brazil’s 2004 silver-medal team, told USA Today that the Brazilian women’s national team wouldn’t miss having to face Solo.
“We all know that Solo likes to be very controversial when she speaks,” Aline, now the technical director of women’s soccer at Brazilian Club Corinthians, said this week. “Maybe she is really worried. But if she chooses not to come to Brazil, the Brazilian national team will not be very sad, as you can imagine.”
The ZIka virus has been linked to microcephaly in newborn babies and is transmitted via mosquitos.
From Grant Wahl’s story on Feb. 9:
Based on the current knowledge of Zika (and other congenital infections), as long as you don’t try to get pregnant or are pregnant when you have Zika, you can acquire Zika virus as a woman and still have a healthy baby later on, says Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease and public health specialist. But Dr. Gounder suggests waiting at least at least one month after recovering from Zika (and preferably three months) before trying to get pregnant. (Full disclosure: Dr. Gounder is the writer’s wife.)
Solo, 34, told SI.com she was unwilling to risk having an unhealthy child, and said female athletes should not be forced into competing while risking the health of their future babies.
