Hope Solo Starts Twitter Feud, Brandi Chastain Responds

It’s NBC analyst Brandi Chastain’s job to analyze the performance of the US Women’s Soccer Team, but a few members of the current squad aren’t responding well to the criticism. U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo took to Twitter shortly after the American team defeated Colombia 3 to 0 on Saturday to respond to Chastain’s comments.

According to USA Today, Solo complained that Chastain, a former defender for the US Soccer team, was out of touch with modern soccer and should learn more about goalkeeping before she assigned any blame. Solo also implied that Chastain, the hero of the 1999 World Cup, was worried that the current team would steal the spotlight from Chastain’s old squad.

Chastain responded to the criticism saying that she’s only doing her job.

Chastain told USA Today:

“I’m here to do my job, which is to be an honest and objective analyst at the Olympics.”

Chastain also gave Solo a few compliments, saying:

“She’s a big strong athlete… She’s very coordinated with both feet. She can make big saves and she has a humongous ego. You have to have a goalkeeper that feels she owns the goal. She feels that she can dominate. She plays the villain and I think at times she likes to walk that line. You have to have that swagger to play the position.”

Do you think Brandi Chastain is out of line to criticize the 2012 US Women’s soccer team? Do you think Solo should learn to handle criticism better?

Solo and her teammates will get a chance to silence their critics when they play North Korea this Tuesday in the quarterfinals of group play.