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Abby Wambach: ‘I had big problems’ with Hope Solo’s comments

Retired U.S. women’s national team striker Abby Wambach criticized Hope Solo’s remarks following the team’s loss to Sweden in the Olympics.
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Retired U.S. women’s national team striker Abby Wambach criticized Hope Solo’s remarks following the team’s loss to Sweden in the Olympics.

Wambach, who retired last year as the all-time leading goal scorer in world soccer history, appeared on the Dan Patrick Show Thursday to promote her new book and discussed Solo, who called the Swedish team “cowards” based on the defensive tactics they deployed against the U.S. in Brazil.

“I had big problems with that," Wambach said of her longtime teammate. “You never call another team cowards after you’ve just been beaten. The rules in the game are the rules in the game and you don’t want to be a sore loser -- not when you’re the best team in the world. To me, that looks weak.

“That’s like playground stuff. Be a professional. Stand up and say, 'You know what, they beat us at our own game. They played better than us today.' Call a spade a spade.”

Solo was suspended for six months and had her contract terminated by U.S. soccer after her comments. Wambach admitted that she and Solo “clashed a lot” as teammates, but added that there was “no better goalkeeper” during her time as a player.

“But was she difficult to work with at times? Hell yeah," Wambach said. "Was I? Probably. Because we’re these big personalities.”