USA vs. Ireland Women's Soccer: Date, Time, Live Stream, 2015 Friendly Preview

The United States face Ireland in the first match of their Send-Off Series ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada in June.

Jillian Ellis’ side have two warm-up games before the World Cup and, after meeting Ireland in San Jose, California, on Sunday, they take on Mexico a week later.
Ireland have not qualified for the World Cup and will not be at full strength for the friendly.
Read on for all the vital viewing information building up to Sunday’s game, along with a look at one of the more interesting battles.

Date: Sunday, May 10
Time: 7:30 p.m. BST/2:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Avaya Stadium, San Jose, California
Live Stream: Fox Sports 1
TV Info: Fox Sports 1

Will it be a mismatch?

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Meabh De Burca expects a tough game

The USA go into this fixture on the back of a six-game unbeaten run, per U.S. Soccer’s official website, and have won five of those matches since losing to France earlier this year.
Their last match resulted in a convincing 4-0 win over New Zealand, and a similar scoreline will be expected against Ireland given the gulf in class between the teams.
Ireland defender Meabh De Burca is certainly aware of how difficult a task it is going to be, per Rachel Stack of ExtraTime.ie. De Burca said: "The USA game will be a massive challenge. They are a team that will be at their peak ahead of the World Cup next month. There is obviously a big gap in the resources available to the US and ourselves, we know how difficult a task it will be.”

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Emma Byrne not available for Ireland

In contrast to the USA’s form, Ireland have won only one of their last six matches, per the FAI’s official website. That was a 2-1 win over Costa Rica in March, while they lost 1-0 to Spain in April.
Manager Sue Ronan is without several important players, including captain and goalkeeper Emma Byrne, after they were not released by their clubs as the fixture falls outside the international calendar, per the FAI’s official website.

Key Battle: Carli Lloyd vs. Stephanie Roche
The performances of the two Houston Dash team-mates are likely to dictate the outcome of the match, and especially whether Ireland can cause a shock.

Who will win?

USA Draw Ireland Submit Vote vote to see results

Who will win?





USA

75.0%

Draw

0.0%

Ireland

25.0%

Total votes: 4

Experienced midfielder Lloyd is the USA women’s team’s all-time leading scorer, per U.S. Soccer’s official website, and she will be aiming to head to the World Cup in good form.
Despite scoring the winning goals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games finals, Lloyd is still not one of the more illustrious names in the USA team.
As Laken Litman of USA Today writes: “She isn't recognised in the same way as Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux or Hope Solo, but she's one of the most valuable players heading into this World Cup.”
Looking to supply the star quality and goals for Ireland is Roche, who was runner-up in the 2014 FIFA Puskas Award for goal of the year, with the goal you can see in the video below:

Roche joined Houston in February, and she has yet to make a major impact as she adjusts to being the first Irishwoman to play at the top level in America.

She has seven goals in 38 appearances for Ireland, per Houston’s official website, and will be desperate to improve upon that record against some of her club team-mates.
Prediction: USA 3 Ireland 0