FOX Sports FIFA Women’s World Cup Morning Highlights – Monday, June 8

FOX Sports presents four FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015™ games today on local FOX stations, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2, including the U.S. Women’s National Team’s opening match against Australia on FOX Sports 1 with coverage beginning at 6:30 PM ET.

TODAY’S SCHEDULE
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™
3:00 PM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY, FOX
4:00 PM ET – Sweden vs. Nigeria, FOX
(Group D, Winnipeg – JP Dellacamera, Cat Whitehill, Tony DiCicco and Jenny Taft)
6:30 PM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY, FOX Sports 1 & 2
7:00 PM ET – Cameroon vs. Ecuador, FOX Sports 2
(Group C, Vancouver – Glenn Davis and Christine Latham)
7:30 PM ET – USA vs. Australia, FOX Sports 1
(Group D, Winnipeg – Dellacamera, Whitehill, DiCicco and Taft)
9:30 FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY, FOX Sports 1
10:00 PM ET – Japan vs. Switzerland, FOX Sports 1
(Group C, Vancouver – Jenn Hildreth and Kyndra de St. Aubin)
2:00 AM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT, FOX Sports 1

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT Highlights:

FOX Sports US Insider Jenny Taft reported that despite yesterday’s ESPN report, USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo will start in net today:
“There is no doubt that Hope will be walking through the tunnel as the starting goalkeeper of the United States.”

Heather Mitts provided perspective on the Solo situation based on her own experiences playing with the goalkeeper:
“I’ve played with Hope for a really long time, and there have definitely been times where I’ve struggled with her actions. I think if they affect the team, on the field especially, then it’s not to be looked past. But, nothing’s really been proven to where she hasn’t been able to be with the team, so all of this is separate now. It’s really speculation, and she continues to show up and give everything she can out there on the field.

She has really tried to work at changing who she is, and this is the best Hope Solo that I’ve ever seen, and I think the team feels that as well.”

Angela Hucles added:
“I was on the 2007 World Cup team when all of that went down. This is something that happened before. There’s nothing that she’s done recently. This is not her coming out and doing something. Her focus is on the World Cup, the team’s focus is on the World Cup, and right now they’re preparing for this next match against Australia tomorrow.”

Alexi Lalas said Hope Solo is worth her off-field issues:
“When you talk about Hope Solo and who she is, it’s as much off the field as it is on the field. And if you don’t want to talk about Hope Solo and this type of story, then don’t have her on the team. But U.S. Soccer and Jill Ellis and pretty much anybody, is not willing to make that decision because she’s the best goalkeeper in the world.

“All the U.S. players – they’ve reconciled this. I trust exactly what they’re saying. They don’t think about this because they know as U.S. players, they’re always going to have to deal with this Hope Solo stuff.”

Kelly Smith suggested the latest report could help unify the USWNT:
“If the U.S. players do pay any attention to this, it will just make them come together stronger and come unified. It’s not going to break them, not by any means.”

Two-time World Cup champion with Germany Ariane Hingst weighs in on the Norway-Germany rivalry:
“Germany-Norway has been a rivalry since the early 90s when I was still playing. It was always Germany and Norway in the Europeans and the qualifiers– tight games – and it’s going to happen again in the second game of the group stage. It’s going to be a close game.

“Could you imagine this – Norway beats Germany, who just kicked the ass of the Ivory Coast in the opening match. What are the other teams going to think about Norway, who would’ve just beaten that German team? So they’re going to be pumped to get three points in that game. It’s going to be a tight one, but Germany’s going to take it.”

Lalas has harsh words for Thailand, which failed to block a Norway penalty kick:
“You’re in a wall; you’ve got to take it for the team. Even if you take it off the money-maker, this is the World Cup – take it in the face. You’ve got to jump. You’ve got to get up there, and if she just jumped a little bit, maybe it hits off her head and goes over.”

Hingst on the challenge Japan faces to win back-to-back World Cups:
“It really is a big challenge, because in 2011, no one had Japan on the radar. Now, all the focus is on them. They expect them to do really well. I picked Switzerland to beat Japan and get out in position No. 1. Japan is still going to make it through, but I bet on Switzerland.”

Mitts says being under the radar makes Japan more dangerous:
“The reason they’re flying under the radar this year is they were seventh in the Algarve Cup. That makes them more dangerous in this tournament because they are off everybody’s radar.”