Pia Sundhage on Tuesday was named as the new official coach of the American women’s national soccer team. The appointment of the 47 year old Swede is the first time that a foreigner has been given the position.

Despite her heritage, Sundhage’s promotion has been warmly received by American women’s soccer fans because of her all star history and exceptional sport legacy. For example, despite retiring almost 30 years ago, Sundhage still holds the record for top goal scorer in her native country for her national team, 71 goals scored in 146 matches!

Sundhage will now lead the US women’s soccer team to the 2008 Bejing Olympics and take over coaching responsibilities almost immediately; starting at the Four Nations tournament in China in January where the American team are tipped for great success.

Sundhage replaces former coach Greg Ryan, who led the United States of America to a disappointing third place at the World Cup, after controversially switching goal-keepers during the match.

Since retiring from team play, Sundhage has coached as an assistant for the Philadelphia Charge in 2001 and 2002 and for the Boston Breakers, where she previously worked with current U.S. captain Kristine Lilly. Sundhage was awarded the coveted WUSA coach of the year award in 2003 after leading the Breakers to their first playoff appearance.

In 2000, she was voted sixth best in the FIFA Women’s Player of the Century competition. Notably her fame is most prevalent in her native country, where her image appeared on Swedish postage stamps during the mid-1980s!

Sundhage becomes the sixth head coach in the U.S. women soccer team’s history and the second woman. Fans will be hoping Sundhage can recreate the success of April Heinrichs, who led the squad from 2000-05 and guided the team to their first place win at the 2004 Olympics.

U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati has given a glowing report of the new coach, saying that: “Pia is a highly accomplished player and coach with the vision to guide our women’s national team into this next phase. She brings a fresh perspective and a tremendous amount of experience to the job. She knows the international game and has a great track record of not only winning, but getting the most out of players and teams.”

Hopes are certainly high for the enthusiastic and accomplished Swede, who looks very likely to do a great job with the team!

Hope Solo (born 30 July 1981, in Richland, Washington) is an American Football goalkeeper at the moment playing for Saint Louis Athletica of Women’s Skilled Football and is really a member with the United States women’s national Football team.

Hope Solo fans. Pics, videos, news and all other stuff.

Soccer career

Hope Solo played Soccer using the Three-River’s Soccer Club inside the Tri-Cities. She played forward till the end of high school, when she switched to goalkeeper. Solo played for various U.S. junior national Football teams prior to joining the full U.S. national team in 2000. She was called a member with the Olympic team in 2004, getting the 2004 Olympics in Athens as an alternative. Hope Solo became the team’s starting goalkeeper in 2005. She has recorded several clean sheets and once went 1,054 minutes without having allowing a goal (a streak that ended in a 4-1 victory against France in the Algarve Cup).

As a forward in high school, Hope Solo scored 109 goals, leading her team to 3 consecutive league titles from 1996-1998 plus a state championship in her senior year.[1] She was twice called a Parade All American.

At the University of Washington, Solo switched to the goalkeeper place and was the team’s all-time leader in clean-sheets, saves, and goals-against typical (GAA). She was a 4-time All-Pac-ten pick along with a 3-time NSCAA All-American.

Following her college career, Hope Solo was outlined for the now defunct WUSA team Philadelphia Charge in 2003. She also played for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC of Göteborg, Sweden within the Swedish Premier Division in 2004 and for Olympique Lyonnais in the French İnitial Division in 2005.

On September 16, 2008, Hope Solo was 1 with the three players drafted for Saint Louis Athletica inside the WPS allocation of national team members, using the new league (a revival with the WUSA) beginning play in April 2009. Solo let in 6 goals within the initial 4 games as Athletica got off to an extremely slow 0-2-2 start in their very first season, but she (as well as the rest of the team) stepped up just after that, with Solo only letting in eight objectives in her next thirteen games, finishing the season with eight shutouts.

In 2009 was called the WPS goalkeeper of the Year.

2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Hope Solo was the starting goalkeeper for the United States in the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup, giving up two objectives in four games including consecutive shutouts of Sweden, Nigeria and England. Heading into the semifinal match against Brazil, U.S. manager Greg Ryan benched Solo in favor of 36-year-old veteran U.S. keeper Briana Scurry, who had a strong history of efficiency against the Brazilians but had not played a complete game in 3 months.[2][3] The U.S. lost to Brazil 4-0, ending a 51-game (regulation time) undefeated streak, though playing a lot with the match with 10 players just after midfielder Shannon Boxx received a second yellow card in the finish with the initial half.

Post-2007 Globe Cup fallout

In an impromptu interview following the match, a clearly upset[4] Hope Solo criticized Ryan’s decision. “It was the wrong decision, and I feel anybody that knows something concerning the game knows that. There’s no doubt in my thoughts I would have produced those saves. And the truth of the matter is it’s not 2004 anymore. It’s not 2004. And it is 2007, and I believe you must live inside the present. And you cannot live by huge names. You cannot live in the past. It does not matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game inside the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that is what I believe.”[5][6] Many viewed her comments as being crucial of Scurry’s efficiency, though Hope Solo released an apologetic statement the following day saying that was not her intent.[7] On September 29, 2007, coach Greg Ryan announced that Hope Solo wouldn’t be using the team and wouldn’t play in the third-place match against Norway the following day.[8][9] Team captain Kristine Lilly stated that the selection on Solo was made by the team as a group.[ten] The U.S. went on to win against Norway 4-1.

Hope Solo was called to the U.S. women’s national Football team roster for the post Globe Cup tour, but she didn’t attend the first workout ahead with the first game against Mexico. The players’ contract with the confederation stipulated that everyone on the World Cup roster had the proper to play inside the tour. Greg Ryan said, “We’re initiating a process of reconciliation, and in performing which you cannot mandate reconciliation. This is not a created for Hollywood love story, this is a actual story, and we’re all operating at that.”[11] She was present for, but did not play in any of, the three games against Mexico, being replaced by Briana Scurry for the first and third matches, and Nicole Barnhart for the second. The third match against Mexico, on October 20, 2007, marked the end of the U.S. women’s national team’s 2007 season. The team regrouped in January 2008 to start preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[12] Ryan left the team after his contract was not renewed in December 2007 [13]

Beijing Olympics 2008

On June 23, 2008, it was announced Hope Solo would be the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In a reversal of roles from the 2004 Olympics, Brianna Scurry didn’t make the team (although she was an alternate). On August 21, the U.S. women’s team won the gold medal by defeating Brazil 1-0 in additional time in no little measure on account of Solo’s outstanding efficiency as she stopped an energetic Brazil attack, generating save immediately after save.[14]

Personal life

Hope Solo’s parents divorced when she was 6; though she lived with her mother, she remained close to her father, a sometimes-homeless veteran who remained a superior influence in her life until his sudden death in June 2007.[15] [16] She attended Richland High School plus the University of Washington.

Hope Solo