The U.S. women’s soccer team, featuring former Tar Heel Heather O’Reilly ’09, opens play even before the Olympics officially begin with a game Wednesday at noon (EDT) on the NBC Sports Network. The opening ceremonies aren’t until Friday.

The opening game is a quality matchup for the favored U.S. team as it takes on France in Glasgow. While the U.S. might be favored to win the whole tournament, some prognosticators say this game will end in a tie.

“We will not be able to attend the opening ceremonies because we are so far away from London and to travel in between matches would be too taxing,” O’Reilly said. “Early on, we won’t be able to meet many other athletes or see them compete in their events. Although it is a little bit disappointing to miss out on these things, we know in our hearts that it is good for our team. It will be easier to stay focused with limited distractions. And we have a very important and serious job to do over these next few weeks.”

There are only 12 teams in the tournament, with eight of them qualifying for the quarterfinals. While homestanding Britain is good and has a chance to medal, the favorites are the U.S., Japan, Brazil and France.

The U.S. would like nothing better than to get a chance to defeat Japan for some redemption after losing to them in the World Cup last year. The Americans had a lead but Japan caught up to tie and then win in penalty kicks.

While the Tar Heel nation is still well represented on the team with O’Reilly, Tobin Heath ’10 and alternate Meghan Klingenberg ’11, it is the fewest Tar Heels on the team since women’s soccer became an Olympic sport in 1996. Read about the situation in “Team USA women’s soccer: Red, white but a little less Carolina blue.” http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/23/3719658/team-usa-womens-soccer-red-white.html

The team members have as much fun as anybody, and it shows in this video they put together lip-syncing Party in the USA. O’Reilly can be seen holding her nose in a bathroom, while I believe it’s Heath behind those Foster Grants. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV9kNdezp3k

You can find predictions about everything these days. One website predicts the U.S. will roll over France in the first game of the Olympics in a high-scoring affair with O’Reilly providing two assists. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1270062-london-2012-10-bold-predictions-for-usa-vs-france/page/4.