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Colombian player suspended

July 31, 2012

A member of Colombia's women's soccer team has been suspended after striking an American player during a game. It is the second controversy to surround the American team since Saturday's game.

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Carli Lloyd of USA competes Lady Andrade of Columbia during the Women's Football first round Group G match between United States and Colombia on Day 1 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Hampden Park on July 28, 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Image: Getty Images

Colombian women's soccer player Lady Andrade has been suspended for two matches after punching American forward Abby Wambach in the eye.

The incident occurred in the 38th minute of Saturday's game between the two teams when Andrade appeared to strike Wambach in the face, but Greek referee Efthalia Mitsi did not see it.

After the match, which the United States won 3-0, Wambach said she was "sucker-punched" by Andrade, and called for FIFA to take action. The American striker later posted a picture on Twitter purporting to show the black eye she had received as a result of her injury.

FIFA's disciplinary committee handed down a two-game suspension. The Colombian forward will miss Tuesday's group match against France, and the quarterfinals should her team advance.

The United States did not file a formal complaint against Andrade, but did contact FIFA.

More controversy

The injury is the second controversy to hit the American soccer team during the Olympics. Goalkeeper Hope Solo criticized former player and current television analyst Brandy Chastain on Twitter. Chastain had been critical of the American's defense during NBC's broadcast of the US's game against Colombia on Saturday.

"Its 2 bad we cant have commentators who better represents the team & knows more about the game (sic)," tweeted Solo. She also told Chastain to "lay off commentating about defending and [goalkeeping] until you get more educated" and that "the game has changed from a decade ago."

Solo Hope of USA in action during the Women's Football first round Group G match between United States and Colombia on Day 1 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Hampden Park on July 28, 2012 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Solo was also benched during the 2007 World Cup for comments she made about a teammateImage: Getty Images

Chastain avoided being drawn into the controversy. "I'm here to do my job, which is to be an honest and objective journalist at the Olympics, nothing more than that," she said.

Coach Pia Sundhage met with Solo on Sunday to discuss her comments, but said she will not discipline the goalkeeper. "We had a conversation: If you look at the women's national team, what do you want [people] to see? What do you want them to hear?" Sundhage told reporters at the team hotel.

Twitter problems

Twitter has gotten multiple athletes into trouble at the London Olympics. On Monday, Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella was sent home after tweeting disparaging and offensive remarks about the South Korean soccer team.

Two days before the opening ceremony, Greek triple-jumper Paraskevi Papachristou was expelled from Greece's team for tweeting "statements contrary to the values and ideas of the Olympic movement," as the Hellenic Olympic Committee put it.

dr/mz (AP, AFP, Reuters)