South Florida Fans Getting Behind Team USA In Women's World Cup
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team is all the talk on Tuesday.
They won their first match at the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada on Monday night, defeating Australia by the score of 3-1.
CBS4's Vanessa Borge is quickly finding out that the win is providing plenty of inspiration for young soccer players in South Florida.
Thousands of American soccer fans packed in Winnipeg Stadium, helping Team USA's first game feel like a home game.
"This was a good win for us, but Australia brought it," said one American fan.
Early on, the American women were out muscled and out hustled by the Australians.
CLICK HERE to watch Vanessa Borge's report
U.S. goalie Hope Solo made three brilliant saves in the first half to keep her team in the game.
Megan Rapinoe's first goal was followed by a perfectly placed strike from a World Cup rookie, Christen Press.
The second from Rapinoe late in the second half sealed the win for the United States.
"Definitely wanted to try and test them early and get some shots off," said Rapinoe. "I'm never afraid to shoot, good or bad shot it doesn't matter."
What does matter is that the Americans escaped with a gutsy victory against a tough team.
"It's huge to come out and score points in the first game," said U.S. team captain Abby Wambach. "Megan was definitely my player of the match. That's a leader by action, and someone I want to follow."
And South Florida fans are following the team's journey to the championship.
17-year-old Jessica Benalahwitz plays at the Kendall soccer camp and watched last night's match.
"The energy transferred from them to the TV to me," said Benalahwitz. "I came here yesterday and played with some kids and learned some things. Then I watched last night's game and I thought okay I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna get serious about it"
The Americans' next game is against Sweden on Friday at 8 p.m. and they'll have some young fans in Miami cheering them on.