FOX Sports FIFA Women’s World Cup Morning Highlights – Friday, June 26

FOX Sports’ coverage of the FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015™ continues today with a huge quarterfinal doubleheader on local FOX stations, including China vs. USA. Coverage begins at 3:00 PM ET with FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY followed by two of the top three teams in the world, as Germany vs. France kicks off at 4:00 PM ET. China vs. USA follows with coverage beginning at 7:00 PM ET.

See below for today’s full schedule and highlights from last night’s FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT.

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
3:00 PM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY, FOX
4:00 PM ET – Germany vs. France
(Montreal – Justin Kutcher, Aly Wagner and Julie Stewart-Binks)
7:00 PM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY, FOX
7:30 PM ET – China vs. USA, FOX
(Ottawa – JP Dellacamera, Cat Whitehill, Tony DiCicco and Jenny Taft)
12:00 AM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT, FOX Sports 1

FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT Highlights:

Ariane Hingst says if she was a USA fan, she wouldn’t be nervous about the game vs. China, even though the U.S. is missing Lauren Holiday and Megan Rapinoe:
“I’m not nervous at all. There’s no fear for me. The Americans are so strong, and of course they haven’t played their best soccer so far, and I doubt this is going to be the outstanding performance, but they’re still going to be good enough to beat them. If I was an America fan, I wouldn’t fear at all. I don’t doubt that they will win.”

Former USWNT player Leslie Osborne says the U.S. needs to use its flanks against China:
“This Chinese team has proven how defensively organized they are, and their back line and midfield line are so compact and organized. They play centrally – they want teams to go down the middle. That’s why using the flanks is so essential.”

 
A former German international, Hingst expects Germany-France to be an even game:
“This is definitely a 50-50 match because both teams are so good. I expect a tight game and a really offensive game because both teams have been so good at attacking. What I’ve seen in this World Cup so far, I’m confident that Germany is strong enough.”

Christine Latham gives the edge to Germany:
“We forget that France lost to Colombia. Everybody has shown some vulnerability in this tournament that we haven’t seen out of Germany. Germany has been consistently performing, scoring goals – players across the board are scoring – nine players have contributed on Germany’s team. I’m giving the edge to Germany because of their attack and their capitalization.”

Hingst says that we’re seeing more trash talk and tabloid-type coverage because women’s soccer is growing:
“[Women’s soccer] is getting so much more professional. The more professional you are, the more success you have, and the more gossip you get as well.”

Eric Wynalda says other teams are looking for a competitive edge when they trash-talk the U.S.:
“If they were playing better, you wouldn’t see so many people taking a shot at them. There are people that are taking a shot at our players because they know that if they can get them off their game, this is their opportunity. As the competition gets tighter and tighter, you’re looking for every little advantage. You want to throw this team off, and so far, unfortunately for us, it’s worked.”

Latham says she would not start Abby Wambach against China:
“There have been key moments in this tournament where she could have put her stamp on things and put the U.S. ahead. I would [start] Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan, because against China you need dynamic players. You need players who are going to run and move and constantly be mobile all game. You don’t need Abby sitting there playing a target forward role.”