A viewing party for the United States’ opening game in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held today at Q’s Billiard Club in Brentwood.
The opening kickoff of the Group D game against Australia from Winnipeg, Manitoba, is set for 4:30 p.m. The game will be televised in English by cable’s Fox Sports 1 and in Spanish by NBC Universo.
The party at the bar at 11835 Wilshire Blvd. is organized by the Santa Monica chapter of American Outlaws, a nationwide support group for the U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer teams.
The U.S. is second in the rankings compiled by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, behind Germany. Australia is ranked 10th.
The U.S. is 22-0-2 against Australia, has outscored the Matildas, 83-20, and allowed one or fewer goals in 20 of the 24 games.
The U.S. is 4-0-2 in Women’s World Cup openers.
The U.S. has a 68 percent chance of winning, Australia a 13 percent chance and there is a 19 percent chance the game will end in a tie, according to FiveThirtyEight.com, the ESPN-owned website that analyzes data related to politics, economics, science, life and sports.
Each team plays three games in group play, with the top two advancing to the 16-team single-elimination portion of the tournament, along with the four best third-place teams among the six groups.
The 23-player U.S. roster includes seven players who played on the high school or college level in Los Angeles or Orange counties — defender Whitney Engen (Peninsula High School); midfielders Shannon Boxx (South Torrance High School) and Lauren Holiday (UCLA); and forwards Sydney Leroux (UCLA); Alex Morgan (Diamond Bar High School); Christen Press (Chadwick School); and Amy Rodriguez (Santa Margarita High School, USC).
All but one of the U.S players play in the National Women’s Soccer League, now in its third season. The one exception is forward Abby Wambach, who played in the league in its first two seasons, but is not playing in it this year to concentrate on preparations for the World Cup.
Four Australian players play in the NWSL — defender Stephanie Catley, midfielder Katrina Gorry; and forwards Caitlin Foord and Samantha Kerr. All the rest play for Australian club teams.
