U.S. Soccer wants Hope Solo to compete in World Cup

Is it possible the U.S. women's soccer team would compete in this summer's World Cup without Hope Solo?

"Sure," U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said Monday of the star goalkeeper who was suspended from the team last week.

But he hopes not.

"We've asked her to do a number of things and she's going to have to do some of those things and make progress in those areas," Gulati said. "We hope (missing the World Cup) is not the case. We hope she's making progress and joins the team. That's certainly the goal. Hers and ours."

Solo was suspended for 30 days after her husband Jerramy Stevens' arrest on drunk driving charges in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Solo was with him at the time, and The Associated Press reported that Stevens was driving a U.S. soccer team van at the time of his arrest.

Neither Gulati nor coach Jill Ellis would detail what Solo has been asked to do during the suspension.

"Without talking about the specifics, there are things we think are important for her to continue with our program," Ellis said. "I think they're certainly achievable and I don't want to speculate what they are, but I think they will help the situation."

Gulati and Ellis would not disclose whether Solo has an alcohol problem and if she's been advised to get counseling.

"Neither one of us has denied nor confirmed that," Gulati said. "She's been given time to deal with some issues and we think that in this period, she'll certainly start that process and we'll evaluate. That's about all we're going to say on that."

The DUI incident involving her husband was six days after domestic violence charges against Solo were dropped. She had faced two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree assault stemming from an altercation with her half-sister and nephew. The charges were dismissed after the alleged victims refused to be interviewed about the case.

During this suspension, Solo will miss two key training games overseas against France (Feb. 8) and England (Feb. 13). During Solo's absence, goalkeepers Nicole Barnhart, Ashlyn Harris and Alyssa Naeher will battle for playing time.

Barnhart has been the backup goalkeeper on the USA's past four world championship teams, the 2012 and '08 Olympics, as well as the '11 and '07 World Cups, while Harris and Naeher don't have that kind of experience yet. All three have Ellis' confidence.

"The three of them have made it very challenging, and we're gonna look at obviously the next two weeks we have in France, which will be a training environment," Ellis said. "But clearly getting experience from the other two is important as well."