“There are so many different walks of life, so many different personalities in the world. And no longer do you have to be a chameleon and try and adapt to that environment – you can truly be yourself.”
― Hope Solo
“One thing I’ve learned through all the ups and downs is that if you’re doing things right, then you have a core group of people. Not just a core group like your homies or your buddies, but a group of people that has a good influence on you, who you respect and admire, and you know that if they’re on your side, you’re doing something right.”
― Hope Solo
“I think it’s my personality to overcome things, learn from them and become stronger, both personally and professionally. To be honest, I welcome those hardships.”
― Hope Solo
“My confidence comes from the daily grind – training my butt off day in and day out.”
― Hope Solo
“I have an attitude. It’s what I do. I’m edgy. I have an attitude.”
― Hope Solo
“I couldn’t have been a great goalkeeper without power, agility and quickness.”
― Hope Solo
“I like to read books and be alone; I’m not social butterfly person. I’m sorry.”
― Hope Solo
“You can predict all you want, but everybody knows what predictions get you.”
― Hope Solo
“When the Olympics and World Cups come around, that’s when you see the real outpouring of support that there really is for female football.”
― Hope Solo
“I just want to stay in my hotel room, read my book. I enjoy that private time.”
― Hope Solo
“You’re not going to be liked by everybody when you speak the truth. I don’t speak the truth to put people down; I don’t speak the truth to show disrespect.”
― Hope Solo
“I like to read books and be alone; I’m not social butterfly person.”
― Hope Solo
“I’ve learned that winning isn’t everything, and it’s more about the journey. But at the end of the day, I just want to stand on the podium with the gold medal.”
― Hope Solo
“I’ve been through a lot of things in my personal and family life. That turned me into a fighter. I always strive to be the best I possibly can.”
― Hope Solo
“All my life, since the time I was little, has been a long distraction. At least that is the way some people want to perceive it, but for me, it’s given me a lot of strength.”
― Hope Solo
“I live for competition. It makes my life complete.”
― Hope Solo
“I don’t need a captain’s band to lead a team to victory.”
― Hope Solo
“I try to live my life one day at a time, and if I look too far in advance, I get really stressed.”
― Hope Solo
“I don’t just want to focus on soccer, soccer, soccer.”
― Hope Solo
“No one wants to lose, period. It should hurt, it should sting, and you don’t want to feel that feeling again.”
― Hope Solo
“I think it’s my personality to overcome things, learn from them and become stronger, both personally and professionally.”
― Hope Solo
“My personal life is in the spotlight, but people say what they want to say. The truth isn’t in the spotlight, I should say. I’m in the spotlight, but not the truth.”
― Hope Solo
“It took putting one foot in front of the other every single day to get through it to the point where I made it back on the team and won a gold medal in 2008.”
― Hope Solo
“I think people have different definitions of team unity. My definition is doing whatever it takes to win, what makes a great team; it’s performance on the field, respect on the field.”
― Hope Solo
“I take everything with a grain of salt.”
― Hope Solo
“My life is a beautiful struggle.”
― Hope Solo
“You’re always going to survive the pain of loss. I can live with that confidence inside of me.”
― Hope Solo
“London 2012 is all about winning a medal. Not just any medal, the gold medal.”
― Hope Solo
“Athletes are extremists. When they’re training, it’s laser focus.”
― Hope Solo
“I think the concept of seeking fame and fortune in women’s football in the States is a bit idyllic. Look at all the teams in America that have folded, and the leagues.”
― Hope Solo
“I played in Europe and it was a great experience, not just because of my team-mates and the coaches we had, but from the fans and the city itself – I played in Gothenburg and I played in Lyon and soccer was everywhere.”
― Hope Solo
“I never felt the same passion for the game in the States and there were a lot of headaches, a lot of obstacles to overcome – it didn’t just run itself for the love of the game because soccer is not the No. 1 sport as it is in Europe.”
― Hope Solo
“In front of the world, all of a sudden I’m a great athlete and I’m put into an environment with 25 other women and I’m expected to go to team meals, team functions.”
― Hope Solo
“I don’t just want to focus on soccer, soccer, soccer. You’re going to look back 20 years from now and of course you’re going to remember the games. But I’m going to remember seeing my family in the stands.”
― Hope Solo
“I’m just going to embrace every experience.”
― Hope Solo
“I never go on Facebook! I like, haven’t confirmed anybody to be my friend on Facebook. I have lots of friends; I’m just really bad at Facebook.”
― Hope Solo
“I usually tell people I watch like ’24’ and ‘Prison Break.’”
― Hope Solo
“I think every athlete has their window of opportunity, and you just have to jump on it. You never know when it can end. So I’m just trying to live large while I have the opportunity.”
― Hope Solo
“I think at an early age I learned not to judge people.”
― Hope Solo
“My father was never around. But I glorified my father, and I was always daddy’s little girl. He was my first soccer coach.”
― Hope Solo
“I hate the cliche of ‘just have fun,’ but what I’ve seen in today’s sports, especially with parents, is they put so much pressure on the kids.”
― Hope Solo
“My father showed me so much love. He showed my brother so much love.”
― Hope Solo
“A lot of people think I’m naturally confident. I am not naturally confident!”
― Hope Solo
“I’ve always been a fan of Justin Timberlake.”
― Hope Solo
“I’m a nerd at heart.”
― Hope Solo
“You know journalists. You know the media. They are going to hang on to anything negative they possibly can.”
― Hope Solo
“I never wanted to go to college in the state of Washington because I was so embarrassed and ashamed of my family life. I wanted to run. That’s what always what I do, I run. I run as far away as I can.”
― Hope Solo
“Everybody should be affected by their own realities in their own lives, their own struggles in their own lives. It makes us who we are, and we all know that.”
― Hope Solo
“I think the concept of seeking fame and fortune in women’s football in the States is a bit idyllic.”
― Hope Solo
“My life goes in four-year cycles. The World Cup is every four years and the Olympics are every four years.”
― Hope Solo
“I know I can’t dance. I am the worst dancer. I have no rhythm. I just do step-and-snap. I love it in the privacy of my own home and every once in a while at a club. But singing and dancing are my two greatest fears.”
― Hope Solo
“L.A. is a bit strange. It doesn’t seem like the real world.”
― Hope Solo
“Of course Seattle loves soccer. You can see from the men’s Seattle Sounders team.”
― Hope Solo
“I have a lot of critics; we all know that.”
― Hope Solo
“I have no personal beef with Brandi Chastain. There’s nothing personal.”
― Hope Solo
“On a global stage, I have respect in the goalkeeping world.”
― Hope Solo
“When I did ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ everyone in Hollywood was saying I had too much muscle.”
― Hope Solo
“Growing up, I felt insecure about my build. I didn’t feel very feminine. But as time went on, I learned to completely embrace my body.”
― Hope Solo
“When I was younger, I was a complete tomboy. Then in college I started emerging out of the tomboy stage and dressing differently.”
― Hope Solo
“I still don’t buy the idea that I’m a ‘sex symbol.’”
― Hope Solo
“In truth, 2007 was the hardest year of my life. I lost my best friend. I lost my father.”
― Hope Solo
“I am proud of who I am, and nobody’s going to steal that.”
― Hope Solo
“Female athletes are supposed to be toned down. You’re always supposed to talk about the team and never stand out.”
― Hope Solo
“I think people who don’t have conflict in their lives are just trying to please people and not really living life to the fullest.”
― Hope Solo
“I am pushed by my critics. I don’t want to say I want to prove them wrong, but it pushes me on the field to play with a chip on my shoulder, and I play best when I have a chip on my shoulder.”
― Hope Solo
“I travel a lot and rarely make it home to Seattle.”
― Hope Solo
“I carry my iPod everywhere. My favorite group is the John Butler Trio, an Australian jam band. The lead singer and guitarist writes amazing lyrics.”
― Hope Solo
“I wear my dad’s cross. It’s very important to me. I hang it in my locker before each game.”
― Hope Solo
“Every athlete acquires routines as a way to help control nerves.”
― Hope Solo
“I need a life outside of soccer. So I very much welcome, you know, new love interests and dating and friends and family.”
― Hope Solo
“It’s clear that women athletics are pretty far behind in every way. In terms of facilities, how much we make, everything.”
― Hope Solo
“With each year that’s gone by, and as I grow up and get older, I’ve become more mature, of course, but you have a sense of who you are, and you find confidence in that.”
― Hope Solo
“I have a problem with players who don’t take the loss personally. At a professional level you should – it’s our job, it’s our livelihood, it’s who we are at this level. Every loss should be taken that personal.”
― Hope Solo
“I’ve had marriage proposals, invitations to military balls and even a few prom offers from 18-year-old boys.”
― Hope Solo
“It’s a complicated thing, knowing how much pain my father caused in my life and the lives of others whom I love, yet still holding love for him in my heart. No matter what he did, he was my father. He helped create the person I am.”
― Hope Solo
“I love pedicures. And, yes, I have a ton of shoes.”
― Hope Solo
“Being responsible and taking care of your body is truly how you make your pay cheque, how you excel and succeed in your lifelong goals, so for me it’s just an everyday lifestyle.”
― Hope Solo
“I burn so many calories when I work out that I don’t really count calories or necessarily try and stay away from anything.”
― Hope Solo
“My father showed me so much love. He showed my brother so much love. He just, he had a rough life. You know, he grew up in a boys home in the Bronx. He didn’t really know his own family. So I couldn’t hold it against him that he didn’t know how to parent. He didn’t know how to be the perfect husband. But he loved as much as he could.”
― Hope Solo
“My No. 1 goal, and what I’ve spent my entire life striving to achieve is to win a World Cup. I want to retire so badly with that World Cup, but if I don’t, then I’ll retire knowing that I’ve done everything I could to get it.”
― Hope Solo
“As women professional athletes, you have to have respect for every player and individual. Beyond that, it doesn’t matter what your interests are. People can have their own lives.”
― Hope Solo
“Nobody really knows who I am, where I came from, what’s in my heart, why I believe in the things I believe, what I see behind the scenes and they don’t see.”
― Hope Solo
“Unfortunately, people think I’m negative and bitter all the time, and that’s not the case.”
― Hope Solo
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