Skip Ad Ad Loading... x Embed x Share USA Today Sports' Martin Rogers discusses the latest news surrounding the USWNT goalkeeper's past. 
 
 ESPN report claims Solo was belligerent and used profane language toward police in her 2014 arrest. 
 
 Solo addresses the media in New York City. (Photo: Andy Marlin, USA TODAY Sports) 
 
 WINNIPEG – Hope Solo's checkered personal life came under further scrutiny on Sunday, sparking a fresh wave of controversy surrounding the United States goalkeeper just a day before the start of the team's Women's World Cup campaign. 
 
 Solo was the subject of an ESPN/Outside The Lines report that claimed she was belligerent and used profane language towards police, threatened to attack officers and taunted them about her wealth during an arrest on domestic violence charges in June 2014. 
 
 While the case was dismissed on procedural grounds, Solo has not been cleared, according to ESPN. Prosecutors have filed a rare appeal with the Superior Court of Washington and are scheduled to file their argument by July 13. 
 
 "(Solo) repeatedly hurled insults at the officers processing her arrest, suggesting that two jailers were having sex and calling another officer a '14-year-old boy,'" the report said. "When asked to remove a necklace, an apparently drunk Solo told the officer that the piece of jewelry was worth more than he made in a year." 
 
 While the latest controversy addresses alleged behavior from nearly a year ago, it will only enhance the perception that Solo may be a disruptive influence on the squad, despite being one of the most accomplished goalkeepers in world soccer. 
 
 Head coach Jill Ellis denied that was the case. 
 
 "No, Hope's been fantastic," Ellis said at a news conference Sunday evening. "(The incident) was a long time ago. We've moved on. She's been a fantastic player and teammate. None of that has even resonated with us, and I'm sure some of the players aren't even aware of it." 
 
 Ellis said she had not read the ESPN story or watched the video report and was informed of the news by her press officer. 
 
 Carli Lloyd, who is expected to captain the team against Australia on Monday, is Solo's long-time roommate on national team duty. "We are roommates right now," Lloyd said. "Honestly, I didn't discuss it with her for one second." 
 
 USA TODAY Sports requested through U.S. Soccer that Solo be made available in the interview area to answer questions regarding the situation. However, she did not appear before boarding the team bus. 
 
 Veteran forward Abby Wambach insisted the Solo saga had barely been noticed within the team. "You would be surprised at how normal life is," Wambach said. 
 
 "This is going to be a spectacular event and for me, I am going to talk about all positives – no matter what happens throughout this tournament." 
 
 However, external opinion may prove to be less forgiving. 
 
 "Hope is incredibly lucky to be on this World Cup team," former national team star Brandi Chastain, who scored the winning penalty kick in the 1999 World Cup final, told USA TODAY Sports recently. "I hope she recognizes how incredibly lucky she is.'' 
 
 U.S. Soccer declined to comment publicly on the matter early Sunday afternoon. 
 
 The U.S. women's team is widely popular around the country and has an overwhelmingly positive image. Solo is the primary exception. 
 
 In March, Solo was riding in a Team USA van near Los Angeles while her husband, Jerramy Stevens, was drunk and behind the wheel, when police pulled them over at 1:49 a.m. Solo was suspended from the team for 30 days for the latest in a series of troubling incidents. 
 
 In November 2012, police reported they found booze and traces of marijuana at Solo's house in Kirkland, Wash., when police arrived at a party the night before Solo's wedding to Stevens, a former NFL player. According to a police report, Solo instructed the partygoers not to cooperate with police. Stevens was arrested on charges of domestic violence because police suspected Solo and Stevens had been in a fight. Charges were dropped. 
 
 In the June 2014 incident, Solo was arrested on charges of domestic violence after allegedly assaulting her older half-sister, Teresa Obert, and Obert's 17-year-old son at their house. 
 
 Yet Solo is not without her supporters. She is still idolized by young girls, and was a key part of the American team's publicity drive ahead of the World Cup. 
 
 "She's worked so hard to create an amazing life for herself,'' said Amy Griffin, an assistant coach at the University of Washington who formerly worked with Solo on developing her game during college. "It just hurts me when she makes a poor choice to take a few steps backwards and head back to maybe where she came from.'' 
 
 Solo has carefully selected the interviews she has given in the build-up to the World Cup, and attempted to paint herself as the "victim" in the June 2014 incident. 
 
 That public relations policy appears to have backfired. According to the ESPN story, Obert said that an interview Solo gave on Good Morning America was what prompted her to speak out and give further details on events that night and the pair's troubled relationship. 
 
 A restraining order is in place preventing Solo from coming near Obert or her son, now 18. 
 
 With the World Cup opener approaching it is highly unlikely that Ellis would consider removing Solo from the starting lineup against Australia in Winnipeg on Monday. 
 
 Backups Ashlyn Harris and Alyssa Naeher have limited experience at international level and Australia, ranked 10th in the world, eight spots behind the U.S., cannot be taken lightly. 
 
 Solo has a history of being in the headlines around World Cup time. Her notoriety was never higher than in 2007, when she launched into a rant criticizing the decision to drop her for the World Cup semifinal in favor of Briana Scurry. The U.S. had lost 4-0 to Brazil, and Solo was sent home and suspended from the team for her comments, stating "there is no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves." 
 
 USA TODAY Sports' Josh Peter contributed to this report. ||||| Hope Solo dives for the ball during a workout in preparation for the U.S. women’s team’s opener against Australia. (Bruce Fedyck / USA Today) 
 
 A day before the U.S. women’s national team opens its World Cup play, the sister of goalie Hope Solo has spoken up and documents reveal new details about a domestic violence incident involving the family last June. 
 
 On ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” Mark Fainaru-Wada reports that police records, depositions and an interview with Teresa Obert, Solo’s half-sister and one of the alleged victims in the incident, are at odds with Solo’s comments on what happened on “Good Morning, America,” on Facebook and in a new ESPNW story. Charges against her in Kirkland, Wash., were dismissed last winter, but prosecutors have filed an appeal. 
 
 [ Hope Solo and the domestic violence case no one is talking about ] 
 
 The jail report obtained by Fairaru-Wada (read it here) reports that Solo was belligerent and intoxicated after her arrest on two counts of domestic violence early in the morning of June 21. The report says she fought with police as they attempted to book her into jail and yelled at one, “You’re such a b—-. You’re scared of me because you know that if the handcuffs were off, I’d kick your [expletive].” She insinuated that two jailers were having sex and called an officer a “14-year-old boy.” According to Fainaru-Wada, “When asked to remove a necklace, an apparently drunk Solo told the officer that the piece of jewelry was worth more than he made in a year.” 
 
 On “GMA” last February. Solo said: “I’m not going to go into all of the details, but it was a scary night. I was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of my 17-year-old nephew, who is 6-foot-9, 280 pounds. I was struck over the head, and concussed pretty severely. It was a very scary night.” 
 
 Obert, for the first time, is speaking publicly about what happened; her son was not named by ESPN because he was a minor at the time of the incident. He declined to speak to Fainaru-Wada. 
 
 “I felt like I had just been kicked in the head,” she said. “She should have been happy, but then, randomly, she goes on ‘Good Morning America’ and lies. I was very upset. It never had anything to do with size. She has tried to make him feel small his whole life. He’s not aggressive. She’s a trained athlete. She’s strong.” 
 
 [ Hope Solo speaks out on Facebook ] 
 
 Solo declined to comment to ESPN and declined to address the incident when asked by reporters during Women’s World Cup media day recently, focusing instead on soccer. 
 
 “I’m here to talk about the World Cup and soccer,” Solo told reporters. “What I can tell you is that I’m in the best place in my life both on the field and off the field. I have great teammates behind me, a great coaching staff, and I’m just honestly really excited for my third World Cup.” 
 
 Her lawyer said in a statement to ESPN, mentioning a detail from the report in which the nephew alleged struck Solo with a broom handle: 
 
 “Police reports and other court documents clearly demonstrate that the alleged victims radically changed their stories on multiple occasions and twice refused to answer questions under oath, despite court orders. Had the case proceeded to trial and the witnesses been cross-examined under oath subject to the penalty of perjury, the defense would have proven that Teresa’s son, not Hope, was the true aggressor, and that Hope suffered a concussion as a result of her nephew’s unlawful conduct.” 
 
 The fight, according to documents and ESPN, began when Solo arrived at her Obert’s home after a disagreement with her husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens. From ESPN’s report, Solo and the teen quarreled shortly before 1 a.m., with Solo telling him he was too “fat, unathletic and crazy” to ever be an athlete. He yelled for his mother and she called him a “mama’s boy,” among other things. From ESPN: 
 
 He told police Solo lunged at him to “take a swing,” hitting him lightly in the face. He said she charged and struck him multiple times. Obert, who had come into the room, said in her deposition and in an interview with Outside the Lines that her son briefly subdued Solo and she seemed to calm down. Obert told the teenager to let his aunt up off the ground. “She’s done,” Obert recalled telling her son, according to her deposition. He didn’t believe his mom, but she said, “No, she’s done. You can let go, she’s done.” But when Obert’s son let Solo go, he told police she “immediately grabbed his hair, pulled his head down and started punching him in the face repeatedly.” Later, in the deposition, he said Solo “jumped on top of me and started bashing my head into the cement” inside the garage. “She grabbed him by the head and she kept slamming him into the cement over and over again,” Obert told Outside the Lines. “So I came from behind her, and I pulled her over and, you know, to get her off my son. And then, once she got off, she started punching me in the face over and over again.” 
 
 After the nephew dialed 911, he grabbed a broken BB gun (Solo says it was a handgun). She left, but entered the premises through another entry. At that point, the nephew hit her over the head with what he has described as a broom handle and a paint-roller pole. 
 
 Police arrived and found all parties were agitated, showing scratches and bruises. Sgt. Phil Goguen, the first police officer to arrive, noted that, “When [Solo] spoke, her speech was slurred and I could smell the odor of intoxicating liquor on her breath.” 
 
 [ U.S. team vows to stay focused ] 
 
 Fainaru-Wada goes on to describe in detail how the case against Solo was adjudicated. Solo now waits for the determination of the prosecutors’ appeal and prepares for World Cup. No matter what happens next, Obert knows the family is fractured further by her decision to speak. 
 
 “I think it’s so tragic, it’s so sad,” Obert told Fainaru-Wada. “… And I know me going [public], this is just sealing the nail in the coffin for our relationship. I know that. And I cried about it. I’ve done all these different emotions but I realized if I do not stick up for my son and the truth, then I’m doing a disservice to him as a mother. 
 
 “And so the future, I know we won’t be in each other’s lives, you know? Because I know she is so strong-willed. She’ll never tell the truth. And she’ll hate me for doing this. She probably believes her story at this point. So, yeah. I guess, you know, I did mourn my sister, have gone through every emotion. It’s like a death. It’s worse.” 
 
 Solo will be in goal for the team against Australia and the U.S. team has little choice but to go with the 33-year-old because her backups, Ashlyn Harris and Alyssa Naeher, are untested. So players and Coach Jill Ellis are soldiering on. As for Solo, she skipped the media session at the World Cup. 
 
 “Hope’s my teammate.” forward Abby Wambach told reporters in Winnipeg. “We are creating a bubble and we want nothing to penetrate that bubble right now.” 
 
 This post, originally published on June 7, has been updated. ||||| Hope Solo, the star goalkeeper of the United States women’s national team, has been suspended for 30 days because of an "incident" during the team’s ongoing training camp in Southern California, U.S. Soccer announced. The suspension is effective immediately. 
 
 According to TMZ Sports, Solo, 33, was in a car with her husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens, when they were pulled over around 2 a.m. on Monday. Stevens was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Solo was also heavily inebriated, according to the report. 
 
 [FC Yahoo: The one lingering problem that MLS must address] 
 
 The incident occurred just a week after the dismissal of Solo’s domestic violence case in which she had been charged with two counts of assault for a June altercation with her half-sister and nephew. 
 
 Story Continues 
 
 "During our current National Team camp, Hope made a poor decision that has resulted in a negative impact on U.S. Soccer and her teammates," U.S. head coach Jill Ellis said in a statement. "We feel at this time it is best for her to step away from the team." 
 
 Solo responded on Facebook. "I accept and respect the Federation’s decision, and more importantly, I apologize for disappointing my teammates, coaches and the Federation who have always supported me," she wrote. "I think it’s best for me to take a break, decompress from the stress of the last several months, and come back mentally and physically ready to positively contribute to the team." 
 
 Once again, the incident is exceedingly poorly timed, with the USA getting ready for this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Canada and Solo only just getting out of her latest run-in with the law. She and Stevens had also been involved in a domestic violence case on the eve of their 2012 wedding that was dismissed for a lack of evidence. 
 
 Solo is inarguably a difference maker on the field and badly needed if the Americans are to finally end their 16-year World Cup drought. There is no way to replace her without suffering a significant talent drop-off at the goalkeeper position. 
 
 [FC Yahoo: So far, Luis Suarez has been a bust for Barcelona] 
 
 Plainly, U.S. Soccer had little choice but to suspend her for this latest incident, since it had happened while Solo was with the team (which pays its members a full-time salary). The federation had stood by Solo and allowed her to keep playing while her assault charges awaited trial, allowing the justice system to run its course – even celebrating her record-setting 72nd shutout with the national team and awarding her the captain’s armband the following game. Her case was dismissed when her accusers failed on several occasions to be interviewed by her lawyer. 
 
 That incident had happened while she was away from the team. U.S. Soccer didn’t have all the information then; it did this time around. So for the sake of its integrity, the federation had to send Solo home. But in Ellis’s build-up to the World Cup, this is a major inconvenience, with testing friendlies in France and England coming up – both of which Solo will miss. 
 
 There are no guarantees that Solo will be back at all. Ellis and the federation might decide the goalie is more trouble than she’s worth and too much of a distraction as the team heads into the high-pressure environment of a World Cup just across its own border. After her assault case, Solo was on thin ice, and she just dunked right through it. 
 
 Solo, for her part, is putting a lot at stake by failing to suppress her undeniable talent for finding trouble. At her age, this could well be her last World Cup. And she continues to tarnish a well-established mainstream brand – she has a varied portfolio of endorsements and has appeared on "Dancing with the Stars" and in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue – potentially leaving huge amounts of money on the table. 
 
 With just 138 days left before the USA kicks off its World Cup, it might have to go looking for a new goalkeeper. 
 
 Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
– The USA plays its opening match in the Women's World Cup today, but goalie Hope Solo's personal life is getting more press than the soccer tournament. An ESPN Outside the Lines report yesterday looked into Solo's arrest on domestic violence charges last year, exposing some new details, including alleged obnoxious behavior after her arrest. In a jail report obtained by ESPN, an officer says Solo "showed signs of being intoxicated" and was aggressive and insulting, telling an officer that the necklace he asked her to remove was "worth more than he made in a year," calling another officer "a 14-year-old boy," and warning an officer she'd "kick his ass" if she wasn't in handcuffs. The ESPN report, which included an interview with the half-sister Solo was accused of assaulting, is at odds with the account of the incident Solo has given the public, including on a Good Morning America interview, reports the Washington Post, which notes that prosecutors filed a rare appeal after the charges were dismissed and that the next hearing is in July. Despite the drama, fellow players and head coach Jill Ellis deny that Solo is in any way a bad influence on the squad. "We've moved on. She's been a fantastic player and teammate," Ellis tells USA Today. "None of that has even resonated with us, and I'm sure some of the players aren't even aware of it." (In January, Solo was suspended for 30 days after her husband was pulled over on suspicion of DUI.)