US women's soccer heads home after early Olympic exit

[...] the favored U.S. women's soccer team heads home from Brazil without an Olympic medal for the first time.

Alex Morgan's eyes were red from tears following a quarterfinal loss to Sweden, which won 4-3 in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw on Friday.

The night was capped by Brazil's 7-6 penalty shootout win after a scoreless draw against Australia in Belo Horizonte.

Solo, who had already been taunted mercilessly by the Brazilian fans over social media posts about the Zika virus, caused another stir in the aftermath of the loss by criticizing Sweden's defensive stand against the top-ranked Americans.

The sport joined the Olympics at the 1996 Atlanta Games, with the U.S. winning the first gold medal.

Tied after three rounds in the shootout of Friday's match, Sweden captain Caroline Seger shot past Solo.

[...] I think to take us to penalty kicks is probably a good strategy, because then it becomes a crapshoot, right?

The United States returns home now with two friendly matches set for September, the first against Thailand in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 15, followed by a meeting with the Netherlands in Atlanta on Sept. 18.