FOX Sports FIFA Women’s World Cup Morning Highlights – Thursday, June 11
FOX Sports’ coverage of the FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015™ continues with four games today on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY airs live at 3:00 PM ET from FOX Sports’ state-of-the-art Vancouver studio before the first game of the day, as top-ranked Germany faces Norway at 4:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1.
See below for the full schedule and for highlights from last night’s FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
3:00 PM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY, FOX Sports 1
4:00 PM ET – Germany vs. Norway, FOX Sports 1
(Group B, Ottawa – Justin Kutcher, Aly Wagner and Julie Stewart-Binks)
5:30 PM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY, FOX Sports 2
6:00 PM ET – China vs. Netherlands, FOX Sports 2
(Group A, Edmonton – Glenn Davis and Angela Hucles)
6:00 PM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY, FOX Sports 1
7:00 PM ET – Ivory Coast vs. Thailand, FOX Sports 1
(Group B, Ottawa – Jenn Hildreth and Kyndra de St. Aubin)
9:00 PM ET – Canada vs. New Zealand, FOX Sports 1
(Group A, Edmonton – John Strong and Danielle Slaton)
12:00 AM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT, FOX Sports 1
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP AUDIENCE UPDATE
The four matches on Tuesday, June 9 averaged 792,294 viewers, +86% compared to the Group Stage average posted during the 2011 tournament (426,000). England-France took top honors, posting 933,779 viewers on FOX; followed by Columbia-Mexico (863,395) on FOX; Brazil-South Korea (965,000) and Spain-Costa Rica (407,000), both on FOX Sports 1. The Brazil-South Korea match is now the second most-watched soccer match ever on FOX Sports 1, trailing only Monday’s U.S.-Australia match (3.311 million).
Through Day 4 of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, FOX/FOX Sports 1/FOX Sports 2 are averaging 968,000 viewers, a +72% increase over 2011 tournament’s four-day average (562,000).
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT Highlights:
Following the first set of Group Stage matches, FOX Sports FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015™ analysts compiled their first set of power rankings. The collective results can be seen below:
1. Germany
2. USA
3. France
4. Brazil
5. Nigeria
6. Japan
7. Norway
8. Canada
9. Switzerland
10. Sweden
Ariane Hingst reacts to current Sweden coach Pia Sundhage’s comments about her time coaching the USWNT and wonders why coaches are talking about other teams:
“It’s really surprising what’s going on – all the bitching between the coaches. And with the Americans, do they want to put some extra oil on the fire? It’s already a really great, exciting group, and there’s already enough pressure on the teams, so I don’t know if they are playing psychological games or what they are doing. But, just put it on the field.
Stuart Holden says that Sundhage’s comments will only fire up the U.S. even more for the team’s next game vs. Sweden:
“I don’t know exactly what Pia is trying to do here. It’s only going to fuel the fire for the U.S. It’s going to encourage them, and it’s going to bring more energy – as if you needed any excuse in a World Cup to get fired up for a game.”
Grant Wahl provided an update on the Swiss investigation into FIFA:
“This investigation has subpoena power, which means it can put people in jail and compel them to testify in a way that FIFA’s own investigation was not able to do. That investigation didn’t find any smoking guns – this one could. If World Cup 2022 is going to be taken from Qatar, this is the way it would happen.”
Former Canadian international Christine Latham understands why U.S. forward Syndey Leroux decided to play for Team USA, as opposed to for her native Canada:
“When I was growing up, the Canadian National Team wasn’t the team you wanted to play on. You wanted to play with players like Mia Hamm and Michelle Akers and you wanted to win. I wanted to win, so I wanted to play for the U.S. National Team. I didn’t want to play for Team Canada growing up.”
Alexi Lalas says that the U.S. Men’s National Team’s win over Germany today is an important step in the team eventually winning a World Cup:
“There’s no reason the United States can’t win the World Cup – even the next World Cup – but it’s these types of moments and experiences individually and collectively that you build upon to get to that moment when it does matter.”
