United States Roster for 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Unveiled Tuesday on AMERICA’S PREGAME

FULL U.S. SOCCER ANNOUNCEMENT:http://bit.ly/1ys4Yds

The United States Women’s National Team roster for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup was unveiled earlier today on AMERICA’S PREGAME on FOX Sports 1.

Former U.S. Soccer stars Alexi Lalas, Heather Mitts and Eric Wynalda, joined host Rob Stone as the 23 team members were revealed, with the tournament just over 50 days away. The selection special also included live interviews with USWNT head coach Jill Ellis and midfielder Megan Rapinoe.

Lalas identified the team’s defensive depth as a strength and emphasized the importance to the USWNT’s overall success in the tournament:

“If this team is going to win a World Cup, (the back four is) what’s going to win it for them, they’ve just got to cut out the mistakes.”

Mitts said given Rampone’s experience and leadership intangibles, she is the most important part of the team’s corps of defenders:

“You want to have Christie Rampone back there. We’re not sure what her injury status is, (and) you do have Julie Johnston stepping up and Whitney Engen able to step in there also.  Ultimately, Christie Rampone has to be healthy, because she brings that experience to the back line.”

Wynalda on the status of standout goalkeeper Hope Solo:

“There was a lot of speculation on what exactly was going to happen with her off-the-field stuff, but she’s made it out of the woods, as I’ve already said before. She’s on the main road. Just stay there. Keep it together, be a good teammate and do your thing.”

Lalas analyzed the team’s wealth of scoring options up front, highlighted by the experience and versatility of its reserve players:

“They are stacked…This is a team that can score goals, a team that can put the fear of God into other teams out there. Jill Ellis has options, because you have Amy Rodriguez and Alex Morgan, but look at who is coming off the bench. If it’s Abby Wambach, you’ve got the strength and utility in the air. You want some speed? Go to Sydney Leroux. You can do so many different things with this team. They are going to be fun to watch, because if something isn’t going right, they have the ability to make the change to make it go right.”

Rapinoe discussed the different ways this team can attack its opponents:

“This team is special in a lot of different ways. We’re very versatile tactically. If we need to play more direct, we can very well do that. If we need to put Abby in at the end of the game and get a goal, we can do that. If we need to possess and kill teams off and dominate that way, we can do that as well. Tactically, our sophistication and our variation is going to be really important. We have seven games on turf, which is super hard on your body, so at times we’re going to need to slow it down and dominate teams in different ways, but we always have that ability to just punch you right in the teeth.”

Ellis assessed the final roster and explained what gives her confidence as the team approaches the tournament:

“It’s a combination of things. The pure talent on this team, I think we’re very talented and a very technical team with great athleticism, so I think there’s balance there. I think there are always intangibles with the US: our mentality, our grit, our determination. There’s a tremendous amount of desire in this group…We’re going to need a lot of bodies up there in Canada, out in the heat, and over the past six or seven months, we’ve been able to play a lot of players and give a lot players experience. I truly feel that we’ve vetted these players through this and feel truly confident and excited about the group we have.”

This week, FOX Sports 1’s soccer coverage is live from San Antonio as the network televises five highly anticipated matches. The U.S. Men’s National Team takes on archrival Mexico in primetime on April 15 (8:00 PM ET) at the Alamodome and top European clubs Barcelona-PSG and Porto-Bayern Munich square off in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals at 2:00 PM ET. Nearly 10 hours of pregame, halftime and postgame coverage are planned over the two days from San Antonio, site of the sold-out USA-Mexico match.