In a move that will come as a complete shock to absolutely no one, Greg Ryan was sacked as the head coach of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team today. When asked whether Ryan’s removal was the result of his decision to bench Hope Solo in favor of Brianna Scurry, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati wimped out and mumbled something about how it wasn’t one specific incident.

Which is crap, of course. While it’s impossible to say whether the USA would have beaten Brazil in that Women’s World Cup semifinal if Solo had played, it’s a pretty sure bet that the team wouldn’t have been on the wrong end of a 4-0 drubbing. Plus, not only did Ryan bench his hot goalkeeper in favor of an aging veteran that hadn’t seen meaningful action in months, but he badmouthed his opponent days before the match and managed to piss off a nation even more apathetic about women’s soccer than America is. Ryan’s comments got far less run than Solo’s, but they probably did even more damage. If Ryan had kept his mouth shut and kept Solo in the lineup, none of this would have happened.

In other news, Solo was informed that she can stop apologizing now. She shouldn’t have had to apologize in the first place.

In more other news, the FA is debating whether to offer Ryan the England job, as Ryan actually has the balls to replace a goalkeeper before a crucial match. Zing.