The USA and France are underway in the 2011 Women's World Cup semifinals, but before they began, Hope Solo had a bit of a problem. According to ESPN's Bob Holtzman, Solo tweaked her hamstring in warmups, suffering some kind of minor injury. However, the injury was not serious to keep the United States' star goalkeeper out of the game, and she will play through it.
Solo is on the field now and will be someone to watch closely as the Women's World Cup semifinals progress. While a hamstring injury to a goalkeeper is not as serious as the same injury to an outfielder, it can still have an affect on her play. Short bursts are needed to make some of the explosive moves necessary to stop shots, something that was on display in Wednesday's penalty shootout win over Brazil.
For Solo, playing injured is nothing new. In fact, she's been injured for this entire World Cup, going so far as to receive shots in her shoulder. She has, at times, favored her injured shoulder, but has shown no ill-effects in her work thus far. And, again, the injury may be minor: It wasn't enough to send her to the bench.
It's early in the Women's World Cup semifinal match between the USA and France, with the score level at zero thus far.
For more on the tournament, be sure to visit SB Nation Soccer's 2011 Women's World Cup StoryStream. Stay with this StoryStream for more on Hope Solo and the United States Womens National Team.