FOX Sports FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015 Morning Highlights – Friday, July 3

FOX Sports’ extensive coverage of the FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015™ continues tonight with a special edition of FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT at 12:00 AM ET on FOX Sports 1. Earlier in the day, the U.S. Men’s National Team faces Guatemala in an international friendly to kick off Independence Day weekend, with coverage on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 6:30 PM ET. See below for highlights from last night’s episode of FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT, featuring special guests Carli Lloyd and Kelley O’Hara from the USWNT.

TODAY’S SCHEDULE
6:30 PM ET – USMNT vs. Guatemala, FOX Sports 1
12:00 AM ET – FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT, FOX Sports 1

Thursday’s FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT Highlights:

USWNT stars Carli Lloyd and Kelley O’Hara joined FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TONIGHT live on set.

O’Hara talks about her mentality on and off the field:
“It isn’t easy to be on the bench ever. Everyone on this team is super competitive, but at the end of the day we have 23 amazing players on this team. I was just trying my best to stay positive every day, going out to practice and working super hard. Honestly, in those practices I’m thinking, ‘This is a Word Cup final’, playing like it was a World Cup final and putting myself in that mentality. I was very thankful to have that opportunity against China to start.”

Carli Lloyd says it’s an honor to wear the captain’s armband:
“It’s an honor. I look back on my career from where I started to where I am now and I know there’s still so much more room for improvement. It’s truly an honor to have 200 caps with this team. I just want to keep getting better. The sky’s the limit. You can’t put limits on yourself. I want to go out there and basically empty the tank every single game and impact the game in any way that I can and win a World Cup. This is a dream, and all of our dreams, and we want to go after it.”

Lloyd on meeting Japan in the final: “I think we’ll take it to them.”
“I’m not concerned really about the opponent. I don’t really mind who it is. Japan’s a great side and they’ve played really, really well this tournament. I think they’ve played as one of the top contenders, but I think we’re peaking. We’ve got momentum going at this game and confidence, and I think we’ll take it to them.”

Monica Gonzalez says the World Cup final is not about revenge for the U.S.:
“I don’t think it’s about revenge. These girls are on a mission to win their own World Cup. This is supposed to be the highlight of their lives, and they were so close to it four years ago. Now they get a chance to come back and do it right; do it again and have a bigger audience. It’s a rare thing you get to do in life, to have a second chance.”

Eric Wynalda on the USA’s mindset heading into the final:
“It’s the World Cup. That’s what is on their minds. I think the media has built this up as much as anybody else: 16 years without winning the World Cup. I would argue that this is something they’d like to prove; that they deserve this World Cup, and that they are even better than the last team that won it.”

Kelly Smith on Alex Morgan’s performances throughout the tournament:
“You’re viewed by the goals you’ve scored, but I think Alex Morgan has brought a different focus to the team. Teams are focusing in on her, but then you’ve got Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd coming in to the mix. She’s probably not been at her fittest with her injury coming in, but everyone is focused on Alex Morgan that other players are stepping up.”

Grant Wahl’s pick for the Golden Ball: Becky Sauerbrunn:
“I think if the U.S. wins this tournament, Carli Lloyd will win the MVP award, but if it were up to me, I would pick Becky Sauerbrunn. Becky Sauerbrunn has been the rock of the U.S. defense, along with Julie Johnston. Sauerbrunn is great in the positioning. She never seems to be stretched or racing back to her corner, so I would give her the award right now.”

Wynalda says it’s not just the great saves that make a great goalkeeper:
“If you really watch it, and we watch it with much more scrutiny, [Hope Solo] organizes things. It’s all the things that didn’t happen because she was prepared or she gave the right information to her defense that makes her a good goalkeeper.”