United States women's national soccer team goalkeeper Hope Solo has never been one to bite her tongue. She publicly criticized her coach during the 2007 World Cup and took to Twitter to criticize announcers during the 2012 Olympics. With her history, it should come as no surprise that Solo makes some strong claims in her new book, "SOLO, A Memoir of Hope."
The most notable allegation in the book comes when Solo claims that former women's national team head coach, Greg Ryan, shoved her during a meeting during the 2007 Wold Cup. Solo was publicly critical of Ryan during the event after the coach benched her in the semifinals for veteran Briana Scurry. The United States would go on to lose the game 4-0 and Ryan was fired as the UNWNT coach shortly after.
Ryan, now the women's soccer coach at the University of Michigan, denied the claim in a statement released Tuesday:
"This allegation is completely false. I did not shove or push Hope as I've been accused in her book. I would have been terminated immediately by USA Soccer had this allegation been true. I have openly discussed the contents of the meeting and this is the first time that this accusation has been brought to light.
"Hope was disappointed that I benched her for the semifinals, but it was the right move for the team. It was discussed with team leaders, and they stood by my decision."
Solo, who is also the goalkeeper for the Sounders Women, was on NBC's "Today" on Wednesday and discussed the 2007 benching, among other things.