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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;WINNIPEG, Canada \u2014 The U.S. starts play in the Women\u2019s World Cup on Monday, and so the dominant story on Sunday was\u2026 Hope Solo\u2019s ongoing domestic abuse case? The one that hasn\u2019t had a change of status since an appeal was filed on February 9?\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You are correct. And there was reason for that. On Sunday, ESPN published a story&amp;nbsp;in which the other side in the case\u2014Solo\u2019s half-sister, Teresa Obert, and her 18-year-old son\u2014communicated in new public details (in interviews and depositions) their versions of what happened in the altercation that took place with Solo that night last June. In their version, Solo was the aggressor, not the victim that Solo has claimed to be in interviews with &lt;em&gt;Good Morning America&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;and ESPNW.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It\u2019s a they-said, she-said, and the case is still working its way through the judicial process after originally being dismissed for procedural reasons in January. None of the parties looks good in the affair, and the whole thing is extremely sad. So let\u2019s run through some questions that are in the air.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Is this news?&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course it\u2019s news. Solo went public herself in the GMA and ESPNW pieces, and Sunday\u2019s story was the first time we\u2019ve heard Obert give a long interview with her side of the story. The depositions from Obert and her son also provided new public information. The ESPN piece was done by Mark Fainaru-Wada, one of the best investigators in journalism (&lt;em&gt;League of Denial&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Game of Shadows&lt;/em&gt;), much less sports journalism. All of this was fair game.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How well has U.S. Soccer handled the Solo case?&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;U.S. Soccer has drawn criticism in some quarters for choosing not to suspend Solo once she was arrested last year and the case went into motion. But I never had a problem with that decision. The most important facts in the case were and still are in dispute, and both sides have had moments where their credibility has been lacking. U.S. Soccer did suspend Solo (as it should have) for 30 days in February after she and her husband, Jerramy Stevens, were stopped in a U.S. Soccer van and Stevens was charged with DUI.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;Podcast: FIFA, Sepp Blatter, Women's World Cup, Champions League final&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How is the U.S. team handling the Solo news?&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In an entirely reasonable way, given the situation. This is hardly the first time Solo\u2019s off-the-field events have intruded on her teammates. They\u2019re used to it, and they probably don\u2019t enjoy it. But they\u2019ve seen firsthand how she has been by all accounts a solid teammate since she returned to the U.S. fold in March. The World Cup starts for the U.S. on Monday. Of course they\u2019re going to support her and focus on the game at hand.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHope\u2019s my teammate,\u201D said Abby Wambach on Sunday. \u201CWe are creating a bubble [inside the team], and we want nothing to penetrate that bubble right now.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CYou just block out distractions,\u201D said Carli Lloyd. \u201CEven in my personal life, everything is on hold. I\u2019m going off the grid for a month. Everything can wait. My fianc\u00E9e can wait, my friends can wait. To me, this is the only concern and the only focus. We\u2019re 24 hours out from the first game.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lloyd said she\u2019s Solo\u2019s roommate right now and hadn\u2019t discussed the ESPN story with her.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Like most U.S. players, Alex Morgan has plenty of her own things to be concerned about. In her case, that means hoping her recovering left knee is healthy enough for her to get some minutes on the field Monday.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI feel really good,\u201D said Morgan, who hasn\u2019t played in a competitive game for club or country in two months due to what she described on Sunday as a bone bruise. \u201CObviously, I have only been training with the team fully for the last couple days or the last week or so. I\u2019ve been building into it. I think Jill [Ellis, the coach] has a good plan in place, and I trust that. Hopefully I\u2019ll be 90 minutes game fit without the fatigue I might have. If not, hopefully I\u2019ll feel 90-minute game fit within the next week or so.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;\u2022 DEITSCH:&amp;nbsp;Women's World Cup viewer's guide: Inside Fox Sports's coverage plans&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Morgan doesn\u2019t have time to think about Solo\u2019s case right now, and that makes sense.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How is Solo responding to the report?&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Given the chance to provide her perspective, Solo didn\u2019t make herself available to the media on Sunday. That\u2019s reasonable too. Is it fair to wonder how she\u2019s responding to it? Sure. At the U.S.\u2019s media day in New York City a week and a half ago, Solo was in tears at one point after being asked questions by the media about her case. Then she gathered herself and did more interviews.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That said, Solo is also a veteran keeper who has played in every big U.S. game going back to the 2008 Olympics. Do I think she\u2019ll be ready to play on Monday? You bet I do.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Can you understand why women\u2019s soccer fans are annoyed with all the talk of the FIFA scandal and the Solo case before and during their sport\u2019s signature event?&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I certainly do. The biggest moment in women\u2019s soccer happens only once every four years. The media coverage at the start of this Women\u2019s World Cup is bigger than ever. And just when you\u2019re ready to focus entirely on watching the best women\u2019s soccer players the world has to offer, so much of the talk is about FIFA\u2019s implosion and Solo\u2019s court case.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Those are legit news stories, though. And it\u2019s worth pointing out that the World Cup games will still be happening, and they\u2019ll be aired in their entirety, and the talk will focus more on the soccer in the coming days unless those news stories have some big, important updates.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Monday, I suspect, the big story will be USA-Australia.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2015/06/07/hope-solo-domestic-abuse-case-effect-uswnt-womens-world-cup>