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The U.S. women’s team opened their Olympic campaign with a 2–0 win against New Zealand that gave the locals a chance to voice their displeasure with Hope Solo.
The U.S. goalkeeper has been vocal about her concern over the Zika virus in Brazil — threatening back in February to not participate in the Olympics and two weeks ago tweeted pictures of a rather large bug repellant arsenal that would make her “#zikaproof” in Brazil.
Brazilians apparently have not taken kindly to her Zika focus, though. During the match, they booed her every touch and shouted “Zika!” in unison whenever she would take a goal kick/drop kick.
A Hope Solo postou foto fazendo piada com o Zika vírus. Claro que a torcida grita OOOOO ZIKA quando ela joga hahaha pic.twitter.com/bn8tGRN53U
— Dudu (@Dudu) August 3, 2016
Solo tried to avoid this response upon arrival in Brazil by apologizing for her comments, but that apparently wasn’t enough.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yv0MjceiqCs
When asked about the reception after the match, Solo took it in stride, telling NBC Sports, “I’d rather have that than [be able to] hear a needle drop.”
Never one to back down in the face of controversy, Solo will likely wear her mosquito hat in goal during the U.S.’s next match.
