If any player should’ve been a first-ballot no-brainer for those voting for the 2020 National Soccer Hall of Fame class, it’s women’s national team legend Hope Solo.
Say what you want about Solo’s off-field antics over the years. On the way to becoming widely regarded as the best goalkeeper in women’s soccer history, her penchant for creating drama was admittedly relentless.
Solo criticized then-USWNT coach Greg Ryan and 99ers icon Briana Scurry after being benched in favor of Scurry during the 2007 World Cup. She was arrested in 2014 on assault charges that were eventually dropped.
She called Sweden’s players “cowards” after their defensive master class eliminated the USWNT from the 2016 Olympics.
Yet none of that should have come close to overshadowing her on-field accomplishments, first and foremost the two Olympic gold medals and 2015 World Cup title to which she backstopped the Americans during the decade-plus she spent as the USA’s undisputed first-choice keeper.
Tuesday’s shocking omission highlighted deep flaws in the Hall of Fame’s broken voting system.
Source: Doug McIntyre
www.sports24ghana.com
