RIO DE JANEIRO — Hope Solo stood in front of the American net on Friday afternoon, desperately needing to block a shot.
She had been the target of derision from Brazilian fans from the moment the Olympics tournament began, and now she needed to rescue her teammates, who had quickly fallen behind in a penalty shootout against Sweden in a quarterfinals match in Brasília.
And Solo did just that. Guessing correctly on Sweden’s third shot, she leapt to her right to swat away the ball. Now the Americans were even. Moments later, Solo nearly blocked another shot, which would have put the United States ahead.