Hope Solo: Dancing with the Stars Is Taking Too Much Time from American Goalie

Hope Solo gained notoriety during the United States women's national team's run to the World Cup Final over the summer.

She parlayed that popularity into many opportunities, including a chance to appear on Dancing with the Stars. However, the amount of time dedicated to the reality show is starting to cut into her soccer time, and that's not good.

While her participation in an International Friendly against Canada might not seem like a major deal, it's one of the few remaining warm-ups the team has before Olympic qualifying begins early next year.

The autumn season of the show usually lasts until Thanksgiving, which would leave just one month of soccer training (including holidays) before the games have serious consequence. That is cutting it close for the outspoken superstar.

Not to mention the risk of injury on the show is high. Although most of the injuries are minor, the last thing the team needs is to watch Solo make it to the end and then suffer a serious injury that will cause her to miss important games.

Qualifying for the Olympics is no guarantee for the Americans. Only two teams will make it from the CONCACAF region. Canada has home field advantage for the qualifying tournament and are the eighth-ranked team in the world.

Mexico is ranked 22nd and will also be vying for a spot in the Olympics. While the United States will be favored to advance, all it takes is one bad game and they could miss it altogether.

So they'll need Solo to be in top form in January and, while you can't stop her from pursuing brand-building opportunities, the American soccer brass will be hoping she makes it through the show unscathed.

Solo's dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy has been traveling with her to the different locations, where the national team has been meeting before they travel to Los Angeles for the show's premiere. It seems like an overwhelming situation for the goalkeeper.

Hopefully she stays healthy and helps propel the Americans to London for the Olympics, making all of this water under the bridge. If something goes wrong, however, American soccer fans will have no choice but to wonder, “What if?”