USA Falls To Chile In Bronze Medal Game

SYDNEY, Australia (Friday, September 29, 2000) - After dominating much of the match up to one fateful chain of events, the reinvigorated U.S. Men's Olympic Team fell to Chile 2-0 in the bronze medal game. Chile won behind two goals from talented "over-age" striker Ivan Zamarano in a hotly contested Bronze Medal Match tonight in front of a crowd of 26,381 fans on a lovely evening at Sydney Football Stadium.

Even with the disappointing loss, this team advanced further than any other before it in U.S. Men's Olympic Team history dating back to 1924. The young American gang of Under-23 players still finished as Group C winners and advanced to the final four of the Olympics.

"In the second half, I thought we played the best soccer we've played in the entire tournament," said head coach Clive Charles, whose overall record (including exhibitions) is 22-11-13 (wins-losses-ties) since taking the reigns of the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team in 1998. "Then all of a sudden, we give away a penalty (goal) and the whole game changes. Now we're caught chasing the game, and it's very difficult to do in that stage."

"I'm very proud of this team. They played very, very well tonight against a good team. And they played some very good soccer tonight against a good team."

From the beginning, the game was very even, with Chile sitting back and absorbing the early American attacks and then trying to strike quickly with a counter-attack. It was a strategy they executed to perfection tonight as they did during the entire tournament to the tune of a tournament-leading 14 goals in six games.

From early on in the match, the U.S. worked to their strengths and effectively attacked the flanks. In the fourth minute, U.S. defender Jeff Agoos (D.C. United--MLS) put MLS teammate Ben Olsen (D.C. United--MLS) through on the left flank. Olsen ran the ball down and sent a great cross toward the far post, but a Chile defender headed it away.

In the 17th minute, U.S. forward Josh Wolff (Chicago Fire--MLS) -- arguably the U.S.’s best over the course of the Olympics -- won a loose ball deep in Chile's end of the field. He then sliced his way through three Chile defenders before sending a low ball that 33-year-old Chile goalkeeper Nelson Tapia slid to save.

At halftime, the two teams had combined for just three shots, although attacking had been the way of the first 45 minutes.

The U.S. side started where they left off in the first half, earning a solid scoring chance in just the first minute of the second period. Seconds from kickoff, the U.S. put together a long series of passes just outside the penalty box that ended with a Casey Connor (University of Portland--NCAA) rocket that Tapia had to parry over the crossbar.

Chile had a good chance of their own in the 56th minute on a great solo effort by forward Reinaldo Navia. Navia worked through the U.S. defense before producing a rising shot that goalkeeper Brad Friedel (Liverpool--England) popped up with one hand and easily gathered unchallenged as it came down.

The U.S. had a golden opportunity in the 59th minute when Wolff worked a 2-v.-1 situation with Casey to draw out Tapia. The Stone Mountain, Ga., native needed to just cross the ball to Casey at the far post, but as he set his left foot, he slipped and sent a short ball right into the belly of a diving Tapia.

The best scoring chance of the match came in the 66th minute on a typically dangerous Agoos corner kick from the right side. Agoos sent an in-swinger to the near post, where second-half sub Sasha Victorine (Los Angeles Galaxy--MLS) flicked it on toward the far post. Team captain Brian Dunseth (New England Revolution--MLS), who was playing in his first match of the Olympics after being sidelined with a groin injury on the eve of the tournament, leaped high and whipped a header on goal that pegged the crossbar.

On the other side of the ball, Dunseth and the rest of the U.S. backline had kept the dangerous Zamarano extremely quiet. In fact, through the first 60 minutes, his only shot had been a well-timed scissor kick right at the chest of Friedel off a Navia cross. But as most pure scorers do, he would find a way to get goal.

On a controversial call that would completely changed the momentum of the game and ultimately decide the outcome, U.S. defender Danny Califf (Los Angeles Galaxy -- MLS) was whistled for a foul inside the box for sliding to bring down effective second-half sub Sebastian Gonzalez as he raced down left side of the box. Even with the ball headed across the endline from a poor touch, the referee ruled Califf's hard challenge to be worthy of a penalty kick.

At this point, Zamarano would take center stage, converting the resulting penalty kick inside the right post in 70th minute.

Their Olympic medal dreams dashed but their overall performance expectations far exceeded, members of the now-disbanded U.S. Men's Olympic Team will head back to the United States at different times during the next few days.

CHI - Ivan Zamarano (penalty kick), 70, CHI - Ivan Zamarano, (Claudio Maldonado), 84.

Lineups: USA - 1-Brad Friedel; 4-Jeff Agoos, 2-Brian Dunseth (Capt.), 8-Danny Califf (13-Landon Donovan, 82), 6-Frankie Hejduk; 5-John O'Brien, 10-Peter Vagenas, 11-Chris Albright, 9-Ben Olsen (14-Sasha Victorine, 61); 17-Conor Casey, 16-Josh Wolff.

CHI - 1-Nelson Tapia; 2-Cristian Alvarez, 5-Pablo Contreras, 6-Pedro Reyes, 14-Rodrigo Tello (19-Mauricio Rojas, 86); 16-Rafeal Olarra, 3-Claudio Maldonado, 17-Patricio Ormazabal (13-Rodrigo Nunez, 36), 8-David Pizarro; 9-Ivan Zamarano, 11-Reinaldo Navia (7-Sebastian Gonzalez, 61).

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Norway Upsets USA for Gold

The Olympics has been one of multiple upsets. The U.S. women’s soccer team found itself the victim of another Olympic upset as the defending gold medal champions fell to Norway 3-2 in overtime in the championship game in Sydney, Australia.

The result was a shocker, if for no other reason than the USA’s 2-0 win over the Norwegians to open this Olympic competition. The game-winner came in the 12th minute of sudden death overtime when reserve Dagny Mellgren scored from close range.

The goal was the result of a long ball from Hege Riise that deflected off the head of U.S. defender Joy Fawcett. The ball hit Mellgren’s shoulder and fell to her feet. She pushed the ball to the left of U.S. goalkeeper Siri Mullinix from seven yards out. Mullinix got a hand on the ball, but saw it roll past her into the goal.

The victory left Norway with a 15-13-2 all-time record against the United States in women’s soccer. No other country has a winning edge over the Americans.

Actually, it looked as though Norway would win the game in regulation as they held a 2-1 lead going into injury time at the end of regulation. Tiffeny Milbrett, who scored in the fifth minute of the game to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead, tied the game in the closing seconds as he outjumped a Norwegian defender to head Mia Hamm’s long cross for the equalizer. The referee blew the end of regulation when the ball was returned to the center circle for the kickoff.

Norway, which defeated China in group play to reach the semifinals, advanced to the championship game with a win over Norway. While the USA dominated much of the first-half action, the Norwegians pulled even at 1-1 on Gro Espeseth’s goal off a corner kick one minute before the end of the first half. They took the lead in the 78th minute on a goal that resulted when Mullinix and two of her defenders collided while trying to clear a corner kick that was headed in by Ragnhild Gulbrandsen.

While the USA was moving the ball around the field with a crisp short-passing game, Norway scored all three of its goals off set pieces and long balls.

The loss was a bitter disappointment for the American team, which had won all six of the previous tournaments in which they played this year in preparation for the Olympic Games. However, the U.S. was only 3-3-1 against Norway this year.

"I'm a fan of the golden goal because it's a simple way to end a game," said U.S. head coach April Heinrichs. "We've been on the other side of a golden goal, it's a magnificent way to win. Norway deserved the gold medal, I admire their tradition in women's football."

The game also marked what might have been the final Olympic appearance for a number of U.S. veterans. While only defender Carla Overbeck, who did not see action in Sydney, has officially announced her retirement from international play, there is the prospect of younger players challenging other veteran players. The next major international competition for the U.S. women is the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The loss was also difficult for Heinrichs, who replaced Tony DiCicco as the head coach earlier this year. However, like Heinrichs, DiCicco did not successfully coach the U.S. to a championship in his first major international tournament. His team finished third in the 1995 World Cup in Sweden, right after he took over the national team coaching reins from Anson Dorrance.

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U.S. Men Go For Bronze Medal;
Women Play Norway For Gold

The U.S. men will be playing for a bronze medal when they take on Chile in the Olympic Games' consolation match. The U.S. women will be playing for gold when they take the field against Norway.

Dreams of a gold medal for Coach Clive Charles' men vanished in the semifinals as they gave up two early first-half goals to Spain, the 1992 men's Olympic champion, and went on to lose 3-1. Spain will play Cameroon for the gold medal.

The U.S. women are the defending women's gold medal champions and they go for gold once again after beating Brazil 1-0 on Mia Hamm's 127th career goal. Brazil will play Germany for the bronze.

"We just never got out of the starting blocks," said Charles after his team allowed goals in the first 25 minutes against Spain. "We were just a tad off in basically everything. It didn't make any difference who....you know we brought people on. Everyone was just....they were a yard quicker than us."

Charles went to his bench early, putting Landon Donovan and Sasha Victorine on the field right after the U.S. went down two goals. Peter Veganas pulled the U.S. back to 2-1 as he connected on his third penalty kick of these Olympic games. Spain closed it out with Jose Mari's goal three minutes from the end of the game for a 3-1 margin. Mari assisted on Spain's first two goals.

The U.S. women will be playing Norway for the second time in the tournament. The trip to the final was not easy as Brazil proved to be a difficult team defensively.

The U.S. got the game-winner from Hamm in the 60th minute. Lorrie Fair headed a long free kick by Brandi Chastain towards Tiffeny Milbrett who was running to the far post. Milbrett didn't get the ball, but her momentum carried her into the path of Brazilian goalkeeper Andreia, who went down on the play. Hamm was following Milbrett and hit a left-foot volley into the goal from a sharp angle.

It was only justice that Hamm should score the goal, her second of the Olympic Games. Brazil was called for 18 fouls in the game, and most of those found Hamm on the receiving end of the blows.

"I was just trying to go for the ball," said Milbrett. "For me, I just wanted to try to wreak a little bit of havoc in there and I did. I got in (the goalkeeper's) way a bit and Mia was following the play and was able to slot the ball in from a tight angle."

Hamm also had a goal in the 3-0 group victory over Norway to open the competition. Since then she has been relatively quiet, which has prompted some media comments about her play in the Olympics.

During postgame interviews Hamm, her eyes bloodshot from effort, was asked a question about whether her talent had begun to erode. Her response was as direct as her play had been.

"All I have to say is that every single day I wake up, I commit myself to being better," she said. "Some days it happens and some days it doesn't. I'm still committed to that. There are going to be games I'm going to dominate and games I'm going to struggle. It doesn't mean I give up."

Going against Norway will be a rematch with the only team that has a series edge on the U.S. women (14-13-2). The two teams, 3-3-1 in seven games this year, match up very well, and the USA can expect a hard-fought, physical game.

In three of their four games thus far the U.S. has faced teams that may have better overall quickness (China, Nigeria and Brazil). Brazil was playing with an extra day of rest in the semifinals, and had 12 corner kicks in the game. Norway will not be quicker than the Americans.

The U.S. defense, anchored by Chastain and Joe Fawcett, limited Brazil to only two shots on goal, but one was nearly an equalizer by Roseli that goalkeeper Siri Mullinix saved with a spectacular dive to push the ball past the post.

Against Chile the U.S. will meet a South America team that had been favored to advance over Cameroon. Cameroon was coming off a 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Brazil in overtime, and two starters were sitting out red card suspensions. Cameroon, which tied the U.S. 1-1 in group play, went into overtime with nine players on the field, and pulled an upset in the second sudden death overtime period.

Chile, which has not earned a medal of any kind since the Seoul Olympics in 1988, went up 1-0 against Cameroon, but saw that lead evaporate on an own goal. Cameroon got the game-winner on a penalty kick late in the game.

Nigeria, the defending Olympic men's champion, was beaten in the quarterfinal round.

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U.S. Men Beat Japan On PKs ToReach Semifinals

Adelaide, Australia (Saturday, September 23, 2000) - In arguably the most dramatic conclusion to any soccer match of the 2000 Olympics, the U.S. Men's Olympic Team edged Japan 5-4 in a penalty kick shootout after being tied 2-2 after 120 minutes. The team now advances to the medal round. The game was played in front of 18,345 fans at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide.

The gigantic result, which will undoubtedly go down as the biggest win in the history of the 15-year-old U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team program, could also be seen as one of the most historic and telling wins in the entire U.S. Men's National Team program's recent history.

After winning Group C and advancing out of the first round for the first time ever, the undefeated U.S. men are now headed to the semi-final medal round, where they will face Spain on Tuesday (Sept. 26) at Sydney Football Stadium. The match, which is set to kick off at 8 p.m. local time, will be televised via tape delay on MSNBC during Olympic coverage between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET).

"I've been involved in a lot of games over the years - World Cup games, World Cup Qualifying games. This may have been the most exciting game that I've ever been involved in," said head coach Clive Charles, who led the U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team to a bronze medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg last July. "The team never gave up. We came from behind twice. I'm just ... I'm exhausted. I felt it was a tremendous performance from the U.S. team today."

U.S. midfielder and overtime substitute Sasha Victorine (Los Angeles Galaxy--MLS), who was a late addition to the final Olympic squad after an injury to initial "over-age" midfielder Chris Arma, ended up the hero for the night. The Carmichael, Calif., native stepped up and converted the fifth and final penalty kick, giving the USA the 5-4 advantage after five rounds. After U.S. "over-age" goalkeeper Brad Friedel (Liverpool--England) nearly saved the first two penalty kick attempts, gifted "over-age" midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata had missed the fourth Japan attempt, striking the left post.

The U.S. twice came back to tie the match, finally equalizing on a Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles Galaxy--MLS) penalty kick in the 90th minute in a similar storyline to last Wednesday's 1-1 tie versus Cameroon in which Vagenas helped the U.S. draw even in the 64th minute. As in the Cameroon match, U.S. forward Josh Wolff (Chicago Fire--MLS) created the PK opportunity, this time being knocked down from behind by a Japanese defender after beating him to a looping through ball.

Japan opened the match by controlling play over the first 15-20 minutes, and their dangerous attack finally the 30th minute following a Ben Olsen (D.C. United--MLS) just outside the edge of the penalty box. On the resulting free kick, Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura had his shot blocked, but quickly tracked down the rebound and sent a cross to the far post. Forward Atsushi Yanagisawa was there to outleap U.S. captain Chad McCarty (Tampa Bay Mutiny--MLS) and bounced a header in the corner of the net past a sprawling Friedel.

The U.S. had a handful of good chances in the first half, but either brave Japanese goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki, who ended the night with 10 saves and a bloodied jersey, or the three-man Japanese backline were there to thwart every real scoring opportunity.

The USA would not be able to get on the board until the 68th minute, when "over-age" defender Jeff Agoos (D.C. United--MLS) ended up on the right flank after a corner kick and sent a low cross into the box. His pass bounced directly in front of a scattered wall of defenders, one of whom stuck his leg out and poked a poor clearance to the top of the box. U.S. forward Josh Wolff, who is tied with teammates Vagenas and Chris Albright (D.C. United--MLS) for the team lead with two goals in the Olympics, was there to tee it up, cracking a shot inside the left post to tie the score at 1-1.

But the even score would be short-lived, as Japan would again go ahead in the 72nd minute. Creative Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura earned his second assist on the night, setting up the goal by dribbling toward the box and stopping to send a perfect looping cross to unmarked striker Naohiro Takahara at the six-yard box. Takahara found himself shadowed only by Friedel, and volleyed a shot directly at him from point-blank range. Friedel's reaction save produced a short rebound that fell directly back to Takahara, who roofed his next shot to put his team up 2-1 and re-energize the chants of "Nippon! Nippon! Nippon!" from the pro-Japanese crowd.

Just two minutes later, the U.S. almost struck back at 2-2. Again appearing on the right flank, Agoos sent an inswinging free kick to the far post. Second-half substitute Landon Donovan (Bayer Leverkusen--Germany), who made his second appearance of the Olympics as a sparkplug off the bench, positioned himself well and headed it back across the goalmouth. U.S. defender Danny Califf, whose header goal started the U.S. off in their 3-1 win over Kuwait last Saturday, was there to flick a bee-bee header on goal, but it was blocked by Narazaki and then cleared.

Another U.S. threat led to a Japan misplay that would have an effect on the rest of the match. Trying to head clear a booming U.S. ball, defender Yuji Nakazawa and Narazaki smacked heads as one was backpedaling and the other charging out. Both players immediately went down and the ball bounced awkwardly toward the endline. Albright ran it down and quickly tried to put a shot on an open goal, but he was forced to shoot from a bad angle and the ball floated high and landed harmlessly on the top netting.

The U.S. had failed to capitalize on the fluke play, but Narazaki had to lay down injured in the box for almost five minutes. When play finally resumed with him in the nets, he had a bloody nose that he had to constantly wipe away for the rest of the match.

In true storybook fashion, the USA would get the tying goal in the 90th minute, as Vagenas stared down a woozy Narazaki, whose jersey was now streaked with blood, and nailed it right down the center of the goal as the ‘keeper dove to his left.

After a long five minutes of injury time, the score remained 2-2 and both teams headed into the first of two "golden goal", or sudden death, overtime periods with the U.S. clearly holding the momentum for extra time.

In the third minute of the first overtime, another perfect cross from Agoos found Donovan, whose header was perfectly marked for the upper left corner of the goal before Narazaki leaped to push it wide.

Nakata would continue to be the most dangerous Japan player as a scorer and passer, sending a blistering shot just wide left of the post in the 97th minute. In the 102nd minute, Takahara beat McCarty to a long ball and laid it off to Nakata, who sent a low cannon for the near post. The pace and perfect aim on Nakata's blast forced Friedel to hurl himself to his left and use every inch of his enormous wingspan to tap the ball out for a corner kick.

In the second overtime, the weary U.S. continued to attack after being bolstered with the addition of midfielders Victorine and Evan Whitfield (Chicago Fire--MLS), who both came on during the first overtime and were seeing their first action of the tournament.

With tired legs on both sides of the field as the clock ticked past 110 minutes, neither team could complete a series of passes to produce a quality shot on goal, always falling one pass short in their attack.

In the result-deciding penalty kick shootout, all five American shot takers converted their chances, beginning and ending with Galaxy teammates Vagenas and Victorine, respectively. With Nakata's missed chance and the penalty kick score tied at four in the bottom of the fifth round, Victorine calmly sent the ball into the right part of the goal as the U.S. bench and most of the newly pro-U.S. crowd erupted.

The U.S. Men's Olympic Team will have a light training session tomorrow morning in Adelaide before departing for Sydney in the late afternoon. The team will be setting up camp in the Athletes Village tomorrow evening and will likely train Monday morning at 10 a.m. at a site to be determined in preparation for Tuesday's semi-final match versus Spain at the Sydney Football Stadium.

Spain, who pulled out a 1-0 win over UEFA qualifying champion and Group A winner Italy in Sydney, comes into the match having defeated the U.S. in their last meeting. The two teams collided in the second round of the 16-team FIFA World Youth (Under-20) Championship in Nigeria last April, with the U.S. forging a valiant comeback but falling 3-2 to the eventual tournament winners.

In the other two quarterfinal matches, Group B winner Chile pounded ‘96 Olympic champion Nigeria 4-1 in Melbourne and Cameroon needed double overtime to edge gold medal favorites Brazil 2-1 in Brisbane. The two teams will face off Tuesday night at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

JPN - Atsushi Yanagisawa, (Shunsuke Nakamura), 30,

USA - Josh Wolff (unassisted), 68, JPN - Naohiro Takahara, (Shunsuke Nakamura), 72,

USA - Peter Vagenas (penalty kick), 90.

JPN - Nakamura (goal), Inamoto (goal), Morioka (goal), Nakata (left post), Myojin (goal).

USA - Vagenas (goal), Agoos (goal), Donovan (goal), Wolff (goal), Victorine (goal). Note: Japan shot first in the Penalty Kick round.

Lineups: USA - 1-Brad Friedel; 4-Jeff Agoos, 3-Chad McCarty (Capt.), 8-Danny Califf, 6-Frankie Hejduk; 5- John O'Brien (15-Evan Whitfield, 108), 10-Peter Vagenas, 11-Chris Albright (14-Sasha Victorine, 91), 9-Ben Olsen (13-Landon Donovan, 46); 17-Conor Casey, 16-Josh Wolff.

JPN - 1-Seigo Narazaki; 2-Yuji Nakazawa, 3-Naoki Matsuda, 4-Ryuzo Morioka (Capt.); 6-Junichi Inamoto, 7-Hidetoshi Nakata, 8-Tomokazu Myojin, 10-Shunsuke Nakamura, 12-Tomoyuki Sakai; 13- Atsushi Yanagisawa (11-Atsuhiro Miura, 65), 17-Naohiro Takahara.

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USA Will Face Brazil In Olympic Semifinals;
Norway Eliminates China

MELBOURNE, Australia (Wednesday, September 20, 2000) - The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team emerged from its final Olympic first-round match against Nigeria with bruised ankles and sore muscles, but also with the sweet satisfaction of having won the "Group of Death" with a 3-1 victory over the African champions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The USA got first-half goals from Brandi Chastain and Kristine Lilly, along with a thunderbolt free-kick from Shannon MacMillan in the second half. Combined with China's 2-1 upset loss to Norway, gave the Americans the Group F title and a trip to Canberra to face Brazil in the Olympic semifinals on Sept. 24.

"If you look at the eight teams in the Olympics, probably four of the top six teams in the world were in our bracket," said U.S. head coach April Heinrichs. "So at the end of the day, when you see that we have seven points and that we are advancing and going to Canberra, we are as happy as can be."

The USA finished group play with seven points from two wins and a tie with China, whose loss to Norway might be considered a shocker had the Scandinavians not defeated the Asian champions twice this year prior to the Olympics. While China needed just a draw to advance, a U.S. victory over Nigeria meant that any loser in the Norway-China match would be going home.

Substitute Margunn Haugenes' goal in the 78th minute, after China's Sun Wen had tied the game on a penalty kick in the 75th, sent the 1996 Olympics and 1999 Women's World Cup runners-up out of the tournament. Norway's dramatic victory avenged a 5-0 loss to China in the semifinals of the 1999 Women's World Cup.

"Yes, we would have loved to have another shot at China," said U.S. co-captain Julie Foudy. But we've got Brazil next, which is a very talented team, so we're only focused on the semifinal."

The Americans knew a win would guarantee advancement no matter what the China-Norway result, but Nigeria certainly did not make it easy. Showing tremendous athleticism, some world-class skill on the ball and its usual fearlessness into tackles, Nigeria took the game to the USA at several points in the match, and actually out-shot the Americans 18-10 for the game. However, many of those shots were from distance, and the U.S. back line caught the Nigerians offside 12 times.

"Nigeria is a great team," added Foudy. "They are aggressive tacklers and they have great team speed. But we were able to finish off three great goals, get ahead early, stay ahead and get out of our group. They are so athletic, like their men's team, but can get a bit disorganized at times and we capitalized on that."

The last time these teams met was in the 1999 Women's World Cup with the USA registering a 7-1 win, pounding in seven unanswered goals after Nigeria has scored two minutes into the game. Tonight, Nigeria once again had the chance to take an early lead after just two minutes as Ifeanyi Chiejene sent a sharp header wide left of the net.

The Americans answered back in the 4th minute as Mia Hamm ran down a ball on the left flank and spun a cross into the middle that Lilly volleyed off the crossbar. Outside of Lilly's near miss and a Hamm free-kick in the 13th minute that was knocked down and smothered by Nigeria goalkeeper Anne Chiejine, the Super Falcons dictated the flow of the match for the first 25 minutes.

Then, as in the USA's previous match against China, a Tiffeny Milbrett shot led to a corner kick on which the U.S. scored its opening goal. In the 26th minute, Hamm spun her cross from the left side to the far post where Foudy headed the ball back into the middle for the cutting Chastain to volley first-time into the roof of the net from four yards out.

In the 33rd minute Nigeria came inches from an equalizer as Florence Omagbemi met a corner kick and sent a looping header sailing toward the upper left corner of the U.S. goal. American goalkeeper Siri Mullinix showed some quick feet to scoot over and palm the ball down. Nigeria got the first touch on the rebound, but couldn't direct it toward goal and the U.S. defense cleared the ball away.

Once again the Americans answered the challenge as Lilly made it 2-0 in the 35th minute. She gathered in a ball on the left of the penalty box, quickly stepped around Omagbemi and drilled her shot across the goalmouth. The ball deflected off the toe of a Nigerian defender and slipped into the lower right corner past the stumbling Chiejine.

Nigeria pulled a goal back just three minutes into the second half on a remarkable solo effort from Mercy Akide. After receiving a pass from Rita Nwadike inside the U.S. penalty box, the 5-foot-11 Akide fought off the challenge of Joy Fawcet, then won a tackle with Kate Sobrero before slamming the ball over the left shoulder of Mullinix from 10 yards out.

The U.S. gave Nigeria very little time to search for an equalizer as MacMillan scored the final goal in the 56th minute. The goal came off a free-kick from the edge of the penalty box after Chiejine had plastered Milbrett with a nasty kick as the U.S. forward raced in on a breakaway. Milbrett had touched the ball past Chiejine, only to get the bottom of the reckless Chiejine's cleat square on her right wrist, causing several gruesome cuts and contusions on her arm, as well as earning the Nigerian goalkeeper a yellow card. Milbrett lay on the ground for several minutes before rising, and then MacMillan made the Falcons pay for the mistreatment of her college teammate, smashing her 18-yard shot over the wall and into the net over Chiejine's right shoulder before the goalkeeper could even react.

From then on, it was just a matter of surviving the game, as Nigeria whacked away at the USA's ankles and calves, some of which went unpunished by the referee.

"April told us before the game that they would just go through us to get the ball, and that we couldn't take it personally, it was just their style," said Chastain. "While that doesn't make it any easier to control the anger on those fouls, I think it did make us a little more cautious and fidgety. Perhaps we had more time than we thought, but played a little rushed at times and we paid for it by giving the ball away and knocking it out of bounds a few times. But we settled down when it was necessary and got three goals."

The USA has played Brazil three times this year, earning one tie and two wins, including a 4-0 victory in the on Sept. 1 in the last match before beginning Olympic competition. Brazil and the USA met in the semifinals of the 1999 Women's World Cup at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif., a 2-0 U.S. victory. Each of the USA's six goals in the 2000 Olympics have been scored by different players.

"Everyone was coming here expecting these to be the hardest three games of our lives and they have been," said Milbrett. "Sometimes it hasn't been pretty, sometimes it has been downright ugly, sometimes we have been dominated and sometimes we have dominated. That's the just the way everyone thought it was going to be."

The USA will travel to Canberra tomorrow and train in the afternoon. Should the USA's win its semifinal against Brazil on Sept. 24 at Bruce Stadium (Kickoff 5:30 p.m. local), the team would arrive in Sydney on Sept. 25 to prepare for the gold medal game on Sept. 28.

 

2000 U.S. WOMEN'S OLYMPIC TEAM GAME REPORT

USA - Brandi Chastain, (Julie Foudy), 26, USA - Kristine Lilly (unassisted), 35, NGA - Mercy Akide, (Rita Nwadike), 48, USA - Shannon MacMillan (unassisted), 56.

Lineups: USA - 18-Siri Mullinix, 3-Christie Pearce, 14-Joy Fawcett, 15-Kate Sobrero, 6-Brandi Chastain, 13-Kristine Lilly (5-Nikki Serlenga, 46th), 11-Julie Foudy, 2-Lorrie Fair, 8-Shannon MacMillan, 16-Tiffeny Milbrett, 9-Mia Hamm (Cindy Parlow, 70th).

NGA - 1-Anna Chiejine (18-Judith Chime), 2-Yinka Kudaisi, 4-Perpetua Nkwocha, 5-Eberechi Opara, 6-Kikelomo Ajayi (12-Patience Avre, 20th), 7-Stella Mbachu, 8-Rita Nwadike, 10-Mercy Akide, 11-Ifeanyichukwu Chiejene, 13-Nkiru Okosieme, 14-Florence Omagbemi (15-Maureen Mmadu, 72nd).

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USA Beats Kuwait 3-1
Advances To Second Round

MELBOURNE, Australia (Tuesday, September 19, 2000) - The 2000 U.S. Men's Olympic Team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games for the first time in Olympic history by defeating Kuwait, 3-1. The USA and Cameroon - who tied Czech Republic 1-1 - both advance out of Group C with five points, however the U.S. Men win the group on a plus two goal differential.

The U.S. men will meet Japan in the quarterfinals in Adelaide on Saturday. Japan dropped a 1-0 decision to Brazil in the final game of Group D pool play. Brazil had the edge over Japan on a slightly superior goal difference. The Brazilians will now play Cameroon in the quarterfinals. South Africa’s challenge in that group failed as they lost their final group game to Slovakia 2-1.

The U.S. Men will travel to Adelaide, to face Japan, South Africa or Brazil from Group D. The final day of Group D play is tomorrow and will determine the opponent. Japan, which plays Brazil in its final game, leads Group D with two wins, while Brazil and South Africa are tied for second with a win and a loss each. South Africa upset Brazil 3-1 in the group’s second round. Should Japan beat Brazil, and South Africa achieve at least a draw with Slovakia, the Brazilians will be elminated.

The USA took a 1-0 lead just before half-time when Los Angeles Galaxy defender Danny Califf scored his first international goal in the 40th minute. The USA extended their lead in the 63rd minute when Chris Albright scored his second goal of the tournament. Kuwait were able to get within one in the 83rd minute off a goal by B. Najem but teenage superstar Landon Donovan secured the USA victory in the 87th minute with a goal.

The USA will travel to Adelaide, Australia for their quarterfinal match to be played on September 23.

Scoring Summary
USA - Danny Califf
USA - Chris Albright
KUW - Bader Najem
USA - Landon Donovan

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Third Games Now Crucial For U.S. Teams

Four games, three ties. That’s the story for the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic teams. Unbeaten after four games leaves both teams in the running for advancement to the next round, but if some of the scoring opportunities had been finished, both would have already been in and would be resting some players in their third and final group games.

Going into the Olympic Games the U.S. men would probably have felt that two games without a loss would have been very acceptable. The team will advance with a win over Kuwait tonight, but Kuwait has a win over Cameroon and is in second place in the group standings. Cameroon, which tied the USA in the second game, is the top team in the Group C with four points with a win over Kuwait and a draw with the U.S. The U.S. is third with ties against the Czech Republic (2-2) and Cameroon (1-1). The Czechs, thought to be the favorite in the group, are fourth and out of consideration for the next round.

The U.S. men have never ever advanced out of group play in the Olympics. If they beat Kuwait, and the Czech Republic closes out its Olympic competition with a win over Cameroon, the U.S. will win the group. If all they get is the win over Kuwait, the U.S. will still advance as the #2 team in the group.

Hard to tell whether or not first or second place in the group is best. Brazil is in the group that meets the USA’s top two teams in the next round. Brazil is likely to be the #2 team, or may not make the next round at all. Slovakia, South Africa and Japan are contenders for the top spot in that group.

"I thought tonight’s result was a better one for us than the other night," said U.S. coach Clive Charles about the tie with Cameroon. "We had a lot of chances, and we know that. But you have to understand that the hardest thing to do in the world is score a goal, and they come in bunches. As long as we keep creating opportunities, we’re going to start putting teams away."

Charles has gotten some criticism for taking a conservation and defensive approach in the first two games, both of which could have been American victories.

"We were very disappointed not coming out of there with a win," said U.S. midfielder Ben Olsen. "We’re playing the right style of soccer. We’re doing the right things, but it’s not going in. We have to put this behind us and score against Kuwait."

By contrast, the U.S. women are the defending Olympic champions. They are also the defending World Cup champions, and came into the second group game against China off a 2-0 win over Norway. Julie Foudy gave the U.S. a 1-0 first-half lead on a header off a corner kick, but China tie it early in the second half.

Actually, the U.S. had a golden opportunity to go up 2-1 when a penalty kick was called for a hand ball against a Chinese defender. Goalkeeper Gao Hong made a diving save of Kristine Lilly’s penalty kick, and then smothered the rebound.

A win over China would have clinched first place in the group and made the final group game with Nigeria a formality. The U.S. would have gotten the second-place team in the other group in the semifinals. Now the U.S. needs to beat Nigeria to finish first in the group. That will happen, in all likelihood, and perhaps the U.S. can use a game to dust off the cannons before the semifinal round.

China will play Norway in the other game, and the winner advances and the loser is out before the medal round.

"What we take from these two (Olympic) games is that we battled hard, played our kind of game against two world class opponents and came out with a win and a tie," said striker Tiffeny Milbrett.

"We were appropriately displeased and pleased at the same time," said U.S. coach April Heinrichs. "We created enough chances to win that game (China). We had wonderful opportunities to score and possessed the ball as well as I’ve seen this year against China. At the same time, we made some mistakes. Hopefully, we’ll grow from them and do a lot of self-evaluating, and that’s a healthy thing."

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USA Men Tie Cameroon 1-1

Canberra, Australia (Saturday, September 16, 2000) - The U.S. Men's Olympic Team Soccer Team drew 1-1 today against Cameroon at Bruce Stadium in Canberra, Australia. The team currently sits in third place of Group C with two points, behind group leader Cameroon (four points) and Kuwait (three points).

The USA will need a win against Kuwait on Sept. 19 in Melbourne, Australia as the U.S. team attempts to qualify for the second round of the Olympics for the first time in the team's history.

Cameroon struck first behind a penalty kick in the 16th minute. U.S. defender Jeff Agoos was called for a penalty kick on his challenge against Cameroon forward Lauren Etame Meyer in the 15th minute. Patrick Mboma successfully converted the penalty kick giving Cameroon the early 1-0 lead.

The USA had several golden scoring opportunities throughout the match but were unable to capitalize until the the 64th minute when U.S. forward Josh Wolff was taken down inside the Cameroon penalty area by Cameroon goalkeeper Daniel Bekomo and the U.S. was awarded a penalty kick. U.S. midfielder Pete Vagenas stepped up and made no mistake in scoring the penalty kick to give the USA a much deserved 1-1 draw.

The U.S. will conclude group play on Sept. 19 in Melbourne, Australia against Kuwait.

SCORING SUMMARY
CAM - Patrick Mboma (penalty kick), 16,
USA - Pete Vagenas (penalty kick), 64.

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Penalty Kick Gives Czech Republic 2-2 Draw

CANBERRA, Australia (Wednesday, September 13, 2000) – A second-half penalty kick by Lukas Dosek gave the Czech Republic a 2-2 draw with the United States in the Summer Olympics opener for both nations. The U.S. twice took one-goal leads in the game, only to see the Czechs, who were heavily favored in the match, tie the score.

Chris Albright put the U.S. ahead in the 21st minute as he finished a Josh Wolff cross, but the Czechs equalized seven minutes later.

Just before halftime Wolff put the U.S. ahead 2-1 as he finished a cross from Conor Casey who played on a pass from Jeff Agoos. The lead stood until the 52nd minute when the penalty kick was called after U.S. captain Chad McCarty brought down Marek Heinz in the penalty area. McCarty was shown a yellow card for the foul

The U.S. men, who have never advanced from group play in the Olympics, now plays Cameroon, one of the favorites for a medal. Cameroon opened with a 3-2 win over Kuwait. The top two teams from this group of four advances to the quarterfinal round.

The complete game will be shown on this evening on MSNBC cable network. The U.S. women open their defense of their 1996 Olympic gold medal on Thursday against Norway. That game will be carried on MSNBC Thursday night. Consult your local television listings for broadcast times in your area.

SCORING SUMMARY USA - Chris Albright, (Josh Wolff), 21, CZE - Marek Jankulozski, (unassisted), 28, USA - Josh Wolff, (Conor Casey), 44, CZE - Lukas Dosek, (penalty kick), 62.

U.S. Lineup: - Friedel; Agoos, McCarty (Capt.), Califf, Hejduk; Olsen, O'Brien, Vagenas, Albright (Corrales, 85); Wolff, Casey.

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Women’s Soccer Notes From Down Under

Friday, Sept. 22, 2000
USA Moves To Canberra For Semifinal

After spending 16 wonderful and highly productive (although often chilly) days in Melbourne, the U.S. women traveled to Canberra yesterday to prepare for their Olympic semifinal match against Brazil on Sunday, Sept. 24 at Bruce Stadium.

The Americans left their home away from home, the Melbourne Hilton on the Park, at midday and boarded the short one-hour flight to Canberra, arriving in the early afternoon. After enduring some stomach-turning turbulence during the descent (which caused one passenger to lose her lunch), the Americans touched down with a hard thump in the city where they spent one of the coldest weeks of their lives preparing for the opening match of the inaugural Pacific Cup at the end of last May.

The U.S. women endured sub-freezing temperatures, and three significant snowfalls, while conducting training in full sweats, hats and gloves. The U.S. players stayed in a hotel "lodge" where the doors opened to the outside, making frostbite a possibility during each trip to the meal room or the training room. The sleeping rooms were so cold that the American players had to stuff towels at the bottoms of the doors to keep the chill out. Needless to say, the U.S. players were pleased (and relieved) to arrive in Australia's capital territory under on a sparkling day that featured blue skies and warm sunshine. The USA was also pleased to see that the team hotel, like in Melbourne, was located next to a beautiful green park.

The USA was scheduled to train in the afternoon upon arrival in Canberra, but with the team still feeling the effects of a physical game with Nigeria, U.S. head coach April Heinrichs opted to lead the team through a short swimming pool workout instead. The U.S. players were also happy to find a Mexican restaurant close by the hotel, getting a taste of home with some quality guacamole dip as well as chips and salsa.

GO JENNY, GO… Following the USA's 3-1 victory over Nigeria on Wednesday, the U.S. players and families attended a post-game reception the U.S. Consulate in Melbourne. During the party, the women's 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay was contested on television as the U.S. players gathered around to cheer on their swimming teammates Samantha Arsenault, Diana Munz, Lindsay Benko and Jenny Thomspon. With Thompson swimming the anchor leg, a room full of screaming, stomping and clapping soccer players erupted as Thompson touched the wall first, less than a second ahead of the Australians, sparking a raucous celebration as joyous as any post-goal dog pile. Go USA.

BACKING THE BOYS… The entire U.S. Women's National Team attended the U.S. men's historic victory over Kuwait at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sept. 19, enduring some cold weather and heavy showers to cheer on their counterparts. After much sunflower seed chomping, "USA" chanting and several groans prompted by U.S. near misses, the American women were treated to goals by Danny Califf and Chris Albright, allowing them to return to the hotel for a team meeting knowing that the boys had the match in hand. The U.S. women missed a late goal from Kuwait and a clincher from young Landon Donovan, but several of the players were in the lobby of the team hotel to greet the only American men's team ever to advance to the second round of the Olympics. That means that the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was the only country in the Olympic soccer competition to have both the men's and women's teams win their group.

I WILL HAVE TWO FILLINGS… Upon arrival at the team hotel in Canberra, the U.S. players were pleased to find an extremely comfortable player lounge with a large television, perfect for one of the USA's main pastimes during the Olympics, watching movies. After an evening screening of "Waking Ned Devine," the U.S. players, led by co-captain Julie Foudy, decided if any of them ever won the lottery, that they would share the money with all their teammates. There was no word if the team press officer would be included in the winnings.

FOUDY MAKES U.S. TEAM AN OFFER THEY CAN'T REFUSE… With a large chunk of time to kill today, and no training on the 23rd, at the behest of Julie Foudy, the U.S. players scheduled a screening of Francis Ford Coppola's two-hour 42-minute mafia classic, "The Godfather." Some players actually did refuse the offer and spent a couple hours enjoying the sunshine by the pool, reading, playing backgammon and listening to music. The USA's only college student, Danielle Slaton, spent the time studying as classes at Santa Clara University started this week.

USA BIDS BITTERSWEET FAREWELL TO CHINA The USA arrived in Canberra to find China still at the hotel. Eliminated by Norway the night before, a sullen Chinese team boarded the team bus as they left a world championship tournament before the semifinal stage for the first time since the 1991 Women's World Cup, ironically held in China. Intertwined in women's soccer history, the USA and China share a mutual respect for each other that crosses over vastly different cultures and languages, making it all the more unique.

Like the U.S. team, China has several of the world's greatest players who were participating in what was probably their last world championship tournament. That unspoken respect, and it must be unspoken as very few of the Chinese players speak even a little English and no U.S. players speak a word of Mandarin, was always evident even as the teams went to war over the past decade.

Legendary Chinese goalkeeper and long-time U.S. nemesis Gao Hong, who did not even start playing soccer until late into her teens, but went onto to play so many spectacular games for her country. She was in goal for the 1996 Olympic Final and historic 1999 Women's World Cup Final, and played perhaps one of the finest games of her career against the USA on Sept. 17 in the first round. The U.S. team was leaving for its afternoon pool workout as China boarded its bus, when Gao spotted U.S. forward Tiffeny Milbrett, who scored the winning goal against her in the 1996 Olympic Final. Gao got off the bus and came towards Milbrett. The two players hugged, then China headed back to Bejing and Milbrett headed to the pool. Said Milbrett: "I didn't know China was going to be here today. When their bus was almost ready to depart, I was standing outside waving, and I made eye contact with Gao. She actually made her way out of the bus and came up and gave me a hug. It was just so hard. Looking into her eyes, she was fighting back tears. It made me really emotional. I was tearing up - I'm tearing up now. For me, sporting aspect aside, I feel really bad for them, because they are truly and incredible team and a team that was capable of winning the gold medal." Earlier in the afternoon, as several members of the U.S. staff left the meal area, Gao, who was sitting quietly eating lunch with a teammate, rose to shake the hand of U.S. head coach April Heinrichs, saying but five words of English: "Good luck USA, good luck."

NEED A GOALKEEPER…COME TO THE USA Before the Olympics started, U.S. goalkeeper coach David Vanole held a brief training session for four field players to determine an emergency goalkeeper if the situation should present itself during the tournament. Mia Hamm, Cindy Parlow, Shannon MacMillan and Nikki Serlenga all pulled on goalie gloves and took some shots and crosses. All four enjoyed rolling around in the goalmouth but each showed a hidden talent between the pipes. The 5-foot-11 Parlow showed the soft hands which made her a post-player of note on the basketball court in Memphis, TN before giving up hoops for soccer while Hamm showed the athletic ability that was on display with Michael Jordan during her famous commercial. Serlenga and MacMillan both showed extraordinary technique for field players, stretching to snag several shots and crosses. Hamm actually was called to action as an emergency goalkeeper in the 1996 World Cup in Sweden.

GIFT FROM THE KIT MAN Before the first game of the Olympics, when the U.S. players came into the team equipment room to pick up their game jerseys, they found that U.S. Women's National Team equipment manager Dainis Kalnins had placed five roses on each of the uniforms -- one yellow, one green, one red, one black and one blue -- to signify the colors of the Olympic rings. No word on if Kalnins spray-painted the black and green roses himself.

INJURY REPORT While several players had scrapes and bruises from the Nigeria game, all players are healthy and available for the USA's Olympic semifinal match against Brazil on Sunday, Sept. 24. Tiffeny Milbrett, the victim of a cleat to the chest from Nigerian goalkeeper Anne Chiejine, luckily deflected the blow with her arm, but suffered cuts and contusions on her right wrist, and several swollen fingers, none of which will effect her status for Sunday night's match. Milbrett admitted experiencing pain the likes of which she has rarely felt, but rose off the turf to finish the game.

LITTLE KNOWN FACT U.S. defender Michelle French, who made the Olympic Team after the retirement of Michelle Akers, found out that she had been promoted to the roster from the alternate list via a cell phone call from April Heinrichs that she took in the parking lot of a Thai restaurant in Portland, Ore.

STAT OF NOTE With her goal against Norway in the opening match of the Olympics, U.S. midfielder Julie Foudy passed her coach April Heinrichs on the U.S. all-time scoring list with 38 goals to Heinrich's 37. It only took Foudy 146 more games than Heinrichs to accomplish the feat.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK Verbatim conversation between U.S. midfielder Kristine Lilly and teammate Julie Foudy after watching "Waking Ned Devine" in which a man wins $5,000,000 in the lottery and shares it with his Irish village: Foudy (caught up in the emotion of the movie as the credits rolled): "Hey, if the team ever wins the lottery, we should all split the money!" Lilly (laughing): "Maybe YOU would...." Foudy in her best Godfather Don Corleone accent: "Okay, we're going to the mattress…" Lilly, who was born in New York City, in her best Michael Corleone accent: "Hey Foudy, it's just business, it's not personal."

A LOOK AT THE USA-BRAZIL RIVALARY The USA-Brazil history is a long one, dating back to 1986 and includes a Women's World Cup match in 1991, but the rivalry took a whole new meaning on Dec 13, 1997, when Brazil defeated the USA for the first time. Brazil defeated the Americans, 1-0, with a goal from Roseli on a steamy Saturday evening at Canindé Stadium in Sao Paulo and ushered in a new era for the South Americans. Brazil shocked the world with a fourth place finish at the 1996 Olympics, but despite losing to Norway 2-0 in the bronze medal match, served notice that a new force in women's international soccer had arrived. Brazil's Third-Place finish at USA '99, this time taking revenge on Norway in a penalty kick shootout, showed that '96 was no fluke. However, the USA has seemingly had Brazil's number recently, going 4-0-1 against Brazil since beating them 2-0 in the 1999 Women's World Cup semifinals on July 4, 1999, getting goal from Cindy Parlow and Michelle Akers. Since losing to Brazil in 1997, the USA has allowed just two goals to Brazil in eight matches, both of those coming in a 4-2 victory during the NIKE U.S. Women's Cup '99. The USA played Brazil twice at the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, tying 0-0 in group play as Kristine Lilly had her late penalty kick saved by Andreia, but then pulled of a 1-0 victory in the championship game on a goal from Tiffeny Milbrett. Both games were classics for attacking soccer and highly entertaining and emotional affairs. The most recent meeting between the two teams was a 4-0 victory for the USA in San Jose, Calif. on Sept.1 in both team's final match before the Olympics. The USA took a 1-0 lead into halftime, then exploded for three goals in an 11-minute span in the second half to put the game away. The U.S. notched a 3-0 victory over Brazil in Orlando, Fla. just before the start of the Women's World Cup, in a emotionally heated match that saw Mia Hamm break the world record for international goal scoring. Kristine Lilly and Tiffeny Milbrett also scored in the match. On Dec. 11, 1997, in Taubaté in the first game of the USA's most recent tour of Brazil, the Americans pulled out a 2-1 win on a second half equalizer from Mia Hamm and a 90th minute head goal from Julie Foudy. Brazil has a style that mirrors their world famous men's team in their virtuosity with the ball, deadly dribbling and pin-point free-kicks, and that gives the USA a far different look that the more direct European sides. New Brazilian coach Wilsinho took over the team during the Women's World Cup, but now serves as an assistant to the coach that preceded him, Jose Duarte. The USA is 13-1-2 all-time against the perennial South American champions. Brazil has brought a similar team to the Olympics from its 1999 Women's World Cup side, with Golden Boot winner Sissi in the midfield along with Formiga and Cidinha, while the always dangerous Pretinha and Katia roam the forward line, with equally as effective forwards Maicon and Roseli coming off the bench.

STAFF BREAK With a free morning, several members of the staff and defender Lorrie Fair took a short trip to the Canberra National Aquarium and Wildlife Park. There they fed free-range Emus, and saw numerous Australia native animals, including Wallabies, Wombats, Kookaburras, Koala Bears and Kangaroos. That re-ignitied a debate that started during the USA's last trip to Australia in June as to whether U.S. Women's National Team goalkeeper coach David Vanole could defeat a Kangaroo in a boxing match as he so claims. The consensus was that while 210-pound Vanole could probably take an Eastern Gray Kangaroo on pure punching power, that he doesn't have the quickness, stamina or technique to go the distance with a larger and more aggressive Red Kangaroo and would likely suffer a TKO no later than the sixth round.

HEINRICHS ON THE DIFFICULTY OF PLAYING NIGERIA: "The style that they play can be unsettling to anybody... From the bench, it seemed like we had time and space to possess the ball better, but none of us on the bench are under the pressure of having our legs ripped off at any moment. That pressure is real and it's unnerving to play against that."

HEINRICHS ON BRAZIL: "With their technical ability, their speed all over the field and their individual defending ability, Brazil is a very difficult team for us to play against. I can tell you that our team has the utmost respect for Brazil."

HEINRICHS ON THE GROWTH OF NIGERIAN SOCCER: "My assumption is that with very little funding that Nigeria has accelerated in their growth. I can only imagine that if their Federation put the same support that we get from our Federation, that they could be one of the most frightening teams. With a little funding and organization and a lot of opportunities to play, they could be an amazing team."

HEINRICHS ON CHINA'S ELIMINATION FROM THE OLYMPICS: "China is an awesome team and I am standing on the shore watching their plane take off and giving them a little wave thanking God it's them getting on the plane and not us."

HEINRICHS ON THE USA'S DEFENSE AGAINST NIGERIA: "Our defense, they put their bodies on the line. They stepped up and made tackles, they headed the ball, slide through tackles and did everything they absolutely could tonight. But give Nigeria their due, they are a good team and they scored one goal against three of the best teams in the world."

MILBRETT TALKING ABOUT HER COLLISION WITH THE NIGERIAN GOALKEEPER: "It was a great ball from Mac (Shannon MacMillan) that sent me through. It was bouncing and I saw the goalkeeper coming out. I thought I could get a toe on it and just get it over her or by her. But as I was getting my toe up, all of a sudden I saw her cleats coming. All I could do was brace myself for the impact. I put my right arm across my chest and it got the impact from her cleats. My arm just went numb. (The marks on her arm) are from her karate-chop cleats. It's not broken, it's just a massive impact bruise. When you've been playing the game this long and get a hit like that, it was fairly traumatic, I'd have to say.

MILBRETT ON THE USA'S FIRST ROUND: "The toll that these three games have taken has been incredible. You can always say that you are preparing yourselves for Olympics matches, but there is no way you can completely prepare because they are so intense and you have all the nerves that you don't have in friendly matches so that drains you that much more.

MILBRETT ON BRAZIL: "All three games with Brazil this year have been very intense. Definitely the Gold Cup was very intense. That's the best I've seen Brazil play. They really poured it on. I remember having to be very alert and at the top of your game mentally. They possess the ball well and have a good team shape. It's really a battle playing them."

USA Focused For Final Group Match Against Nigeria
Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2000

While the 1-1 draw against China, in a tremendously entertaining match, put the USA in good position to advance to the semifinals, the emotional consensus among the U.S. players was one of disappointment for letting a win slip away.

Still, the experienced U.S. team quickly put that disappointment behind them and began focusing on the final group match against the always-dangerous Nigerians. The U.S. women trained on Monday, Sept. 18, at Olympic park in a light afternoon session that featured soccer tennis, finishing drills and a few set-plays. U.S. head coach April Heinrichs gave her team the day off today (outside of the standard player-coach individual meetings) as most of  the players took time to catch up with family members, while re-energizing for the match tomorrow against the Africans, knowing a win guarantees advancement.

Backing The Boys…
The entire U.S. Women's National Team attended the men's match between the USA and Kuwait at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the U.S. needing a win to advance. The U.S. men's team arrived at the team hotel on Sept. 17th, grabbed a quick meal and went to watch the USA's clash with China. The U.S. women were happy to see some American athletes, as outside
of the Opening Ceremonies, they have had no contact with other members of the U.S. Olympic Team here in Melbourne.

While there is no doubt a generation gap between the older U.S. women's players and the U-23 men's team, many members of both teams know each other from the soccer scene in the United States, and the teams have mingled in the game room, with midfielder Nikki Serlenga and goalkeeper Brad Friedel forming a particularly lethal combination at the fussball table.

U.S. men's head coach Clive Charles had a reunion of sorts with U.S. players Tiffeny Milbrett, Shannon MacMillan and Michelle French, all of whom played for Charles at the University of  Portland. Brandi Chastain spent some time getting all members of both the men's and women's Olympics teams to sign an Olympic poster. Kate Sobrero was seen on the car race video game challenging a U.S. men's player as a gallery of his teammates looked on. Shannon MacMillan played a mean game of pinball with team men's captain Brian Dunseth.

Chatting With The Stars
Two U.S. players did Internet chat sessions on consecutive days as forward Tiffeny Milbrett chatted with fans on www.Olympics.com on Monday, Sept. 18, and midfielder Lorrie Fair got online with www.NBCOlympics.com on Tuesday, Sept. 19. The players touched on subjects such as the retirement of Michelle Akers, the talents of the Chinese, their experiences so far in Australia and the challenge ahead to win gold.

First Daughter Drops By…
Chelsea Clinton and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala, a long-time fan of the U.S. women's team, both stopped by the locker room after the match against China. The U.S. players had spent some quality time with Chelsea as special guests of First Lady Hillary Clinton during their ride on Air Force 3 from Washington, D.C. to Cape Canaveral to watch the shuttle launch after the Women's World Cup. The always-charming first daughter shared smiles and hugs with the U.S. players, especially team co-captain Julie Foudy, who graduated from Stanford University where Chelsea is currently matriculating.

The U.S. players burned through several roles of film taking pictures with Chelsea. Secretary Shalala, one of the main proponents of the SmokeFree Kids program that numerous U.S. players have been involved with for several years, was a fan of the U.S. team long before it burst into the national spotlight after winning the '99 WWC.

Where’s The Red, White And Blue?
Echoing a sentiment often heard inside the United States by fans of other countries, the U.S. players have been getting a taste of the nationalistic television coverage here in Australia and have been a bit disappointed with not being able to follow their U.S. Olympic teammates on TV. That however, has not stopped them from watching hours of Olympic coverage, which according to a few players, has included a bit too much equestrian and cycling.

Olympic Moments
The lack of American athletes on TV has left the U.S. players with a dearth of favorite Olympic moments, but there have been highlights. Said Shannon MacMillan: "My favorite moment so far was when Cathy Freeman stood in the middle of the pool of water and lit the Olympic flame. It gave me chills." Said Lorrie Fair: "Those trap shooters are talented, but I can't watch 25 rounds of it. The most fun was sitting and watching all the athletes march into the Olympic Stadium at the Opening Ceremonies as we were one of the last to go in." Said U.S. Assistant Coach David Vanole: "I've been editing some much darn game video tape, I haven't had time to watch any of the events."

Said Nikki Serlenga: "My highlights were taking pictures with Marion Jones and (Kentucky basketball coach) Tubby Smith at the Opening Ceremonies. They were both so nice."

Whale Watching In Melbourne
Lorrie Fair, Kate Sobrero and their families decided to spend part of Tuesday afternoon at the local IMAX Theatre taking in the movie "Whales." Unfortunately, the film, which did not even have any narration, did not live up to expectations. Said Fair: "All whales really do is swim, breach (break the surface), blow air out of their blow holes, eat, mate and get attacked. Well, because the movie was rated "G" we didn't get to see any of the good stuff -- eating, mating or getting attacked by giant squids, sharks or maybe some other whales. So it was basically an hour of whales swimming and breaching, swimming, breaching, blowing some air and some more swimming. It was nice to look at for a few minutes, but then I nodded off a couple times. We're looking forward to seeing "Africa."

Island Of Stars & Stripes In A Sea Of Red
The parents, friends and families of the U.S. team found themselves smack in the middle of a vast sea of Chinese fans in the third deck of the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the game against China. Even with the most electronically-advanced voice amplification equipment, the group of about 70 fans would have had no chance of drowning out the fanatic, flag-waving Chinese, who came out by the thousands to support their women's soccer team.

Little Known Fact:
Both Julie Foudy (Stanford) and Joy Fawcett (UC Berkeley) did not receive any scholarship money when they committed to attend those colleges. Fawcett had to pay money out of her own pocket for road trips with the Golden Bears.

Statistic Of Note
During the 1999 Women's World Cup, the USA faced Nigeria in its second first round match and allowed a goal in just the second minute. The USA tied the match on a Nigeria own goal in the 19th minute, then Americans scored on five consecutive shots -- a statistical aberration -- to take a 6-1 lead into halftime. Tiffeny Milbrett added her second goal of the game in the second half for the final margin.

Quote Of The Week
U.S. substitute midfielder Nikki Serlenga was startled to find out that one of the most famous members of the U.S. Olympic Team knew her name. Serlenga to U.S. sprinter Marion Jones at the Opening Ceremonies: "Marion, is it all right if I take a picture with you? I play on the soccer team…" Marion Jones: "Yeah, Serlenga. I know who you are. We cheer for you when you go into the game."

Look At The USA vs. Nigeria Rivalry
Really, there is none. The teams have met just once, that being last summer at the Women's World Cup, the only time the USA has ever faced an African team. The match was a wild one with Nigeria scoring in the 2nd minute before the USA roared back to score six goals in the first half. The match was an extremely physical affair as Nigeria committed 29 fouls to only three for the USA.

Six players scored with Tiffeny Milbrett being the only one with two goals, as the game was played in front of a sold-out crowd in Chicago, creating perhaps the most electric atmosphere of the tournament. Even though Nigeria is out of the Olympics after losses to both China and Norway, that should not cloud the fact that the Super Falcons became the first African team to advance to the second round of the Women's World Cup. In the quarterfinals, after falling behind 3-0 to Brazil, the Nigerians staged a monumental comeback, scoring three times to send the game into overtime.

A remarkable free-kick "golden goal" from Sissi sent the Nigerians home, but not before they impressed everyone in America with exciting, emotional, energetic and skillful soccer. Not too mention some of the wildest hairstyles of the Women's World Cup. Nigeria, long the class of African women's soccer, also made history by qualifying for their first Olympic women's soccer tournament by virtue of their top-7 finish in the USA, but then had the misfortune of being drawn into the same group as the three best teams in the world. Still, the Africans are fast, talented, unpredictable and physically tough, meaning that the American women will have to be at the top of their game to get the victory needed for advancement.

U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team Training Schedule:
If the U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team advances first in its group, the Americans will go to Canberra for the semifinal. If the USA takes second, it will travel to Sydney for the semifinal. While the Americans will know the order of finish in the other group by tonight, the results of the Wednesday games will determine the schedule for the next four days. The training times and sites for the days following will be made available as soon as they are finalized. There will be up to 30 minutes following each training that players and coaches will be available to media. If U.S. head coach April Heinrichs decides on closing a training, or there is a day off, selected U.S. players will be available to the media at the team hotel at a designated time that day.

REWIND - SOME QUOTES FROM THE U.S. PLAYERS AND COACHES
U.S. Head Coach April Heinrichs on her team's focus for Nigeria: "No chance this team thinks a draw will be enough. This team is going to go after Nigeria. In our opinion, this is now like the quarterfinals of the Olympics, so we're going to go after Nigeria with all we've got." U.S. Head Coach April Heinrichs on her substituting Cindy Parlow for Brandi Chastain against China: "You can't pack it in against China or you will get abused seriously. Our thinking was that Cindy Parlow is a marvelous player with some great qualities and you could see that in her 25 minutes she had two great chances for herself and some for her teammates. Getting Cindy in there is like getting another starter on the field and it allowed us to put pressure on China with three up top."

Kristine Lilly on keeping her eye on the big picture after a frustrating tie with China: "We got a point and we have to remember that."

Mia Hamm on the USA's focus on Nigeria and nothing beyond: "If we can get three points against Nigeria, we'll ensure ourselves of   advancement so that's our focus right now. We can't even begin to look past Nigeria, and if we do, we're going to struggle.

Nikki Serlenga after the China match: "We're disappointed. We have this saying on our team: wholesome discontent. We're not really satisfied with anything, but that's what makes us such a good team. I mean, 1-1 in not a terrible result against this team. But we expect better from ourselves. People are a little frustrated."

Nikki Serlenga on Sun Wen and her goal: "I had heard about her free-kick expertise, but I'd never seen in first-hand. We were warming up behind the goal when it happened, so I had a perfect view of it. It was unreal. Siri couldn't have done anything more. She put it within a inch of the crossbar and an inch of the post. It was unreal."

2000 Women's Olympic Soccer Tournament
First Round Schedule
Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Brisbane

Wednesday, Sept. 13
Brazil 2, Sweden 0 Melbourne Group E
Germany 3, Australia 0 Canberra Group E

Thursday, Sept. 14
USA 2, Norway 0 Melbourne Group F
China 3, Nigeria 1 Canberra Group F

Saturday, Sept. 16
Australia 1, Sweden1 Sydney Group E
Germany 2, Brazil 1 Canberra Group E

Sunday, Sept. 17
USA 1, China 1 Melbourne Group F
Norway 3, Nigeria 1 Canberra Group F

Tuesday, Sept. 19
Australia vs. Brazil Sydney Group E
Germany vs. Sweden Melbourne Group E

Wednesday, Sept. 20
USA vs. Nigeria Melbourne Group F
China vs. Norway Canberra Group F

Medal Rounds
Canberra, Sydney
Sunday, Sept. 24
1st E vs. 2nd F Sydney
1st F vs. 2nd E Canberra

Thursday, Sept. 28
Bronze Medal Match Sydney
Gold Medal Match Sydney

2000 Olympic Games - Women's Tournament Standings
Group E W L T GF GA GD Pts.
Germany 2 0 0 5 1 +4 6
Brazil 1 1 0 3 2 +1 3
Sweden 0 1 1 1 3 -2 1
Australia 0 1 1 1 4 -3 1

Group F W L T GF GA GD Pts.
China 1 0 1 4 2 +2 4
USA 1 0 1 3 1 +2 4
Norway 1 1 0 3 3 0 3
Nigeria 0 2 0 2 6 -4 0

2000 Olympic Games - Women's Goal Scorers
Player Team Goals
Sun Wen China 3
Birgit Prinz Germany 2
Zhoa Lihong China 1
Katia Brazil 1
Pretinha Brazil 1
Raquel Brazil 1
Mia Hamm USA 1
Tiffeny Milbrett USA 1
Julie Foudy USA 1
Perpetua Nkwocha Nigeria 1
Mercy Akide Nigeria 1
Bettina Wiegmann Germany 1
Renate Lingor Germany 1
Inka Grings Germany 1
Dagny Mellgren Norway 1
Hege Riise Norway 1
Marianne PettersenNorway 1
Cheryl Salisbury Australia 1
Malin Andersson Sweden 1

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2000
Olympic Soccer Set To Begin Under Blue Skies

The U.S. team awoke this morning to its first sunny day since arriving in Australia on Sept. 6, with metallic blues skies and a brisk wind welcoming the first games of the 2000 Olympic Soccer Tournament.

The Sweden-Brazil women's match in Melbourne will kick off at the same time as the Australia-Germany women's game in Canberra (5:30 p.m. local time) and the Olympics will be underway. The U.S. women's team will be in the stands to watch part of the nightcap of the doubleheader at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as the host Olyroos take on Italy in front of 93,000 fans.

The USA had the day off from training today after conducting light, but intense sessions the past two days. The Americans worked on fine-tuning some set plays, some finishing and some functional training, but all are anxious to play someone other than their teammates. Yesterday's training at the Anderson Oval at the Port Melbourne Soccer Club was the first at which the plays could discard their sweats and beanies as the temperature climbed into the low 60s, perhaps a preview of the clear and crisp day to follow.

The Olyroos - Australia's Men’s U-23 Olympic side - will enter a cauldron of pressure tonight in front of a packed MCG. The young Aussies have appeared loose and ready around the hotel, but clearly know that they have their work cut out for them against the young stars of the Serie "A". That was in evidence in an elevator conversation between U.S. goalkeeper coach David Vanole and one soft-spoken Aussie player:

Vanole: "Big game for you guys tomorrow, huh?"
Olyroo: "Yeah."
Vanole: "You guys nervous?"
Olyroo: "Yeah."

HOTEL CINEPLEX
With the cold weather, and an emphasis on rest and relaxation over shopping and sightseeing, the U.S. players have watched many, many movies on the VCR in the player's lounge over the past week. Some of the favorite selections: Gladiator, Seven, American Pie, Usual Suspects, Face-Off, Arlington Road, Three Kings, Life is Beautiful, American History X, Matrix and The American President. Some reviews:

• On American History X: "A disturbing topic, but very well acted." Brandi Chastain - Defender, U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer Team
• On Arlington Road: "Unpredictable…eerie…a roller-coaster ride." Mia Hamm - Forward, U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer Team
• On Gladiator: "Intense…Great fight scenes." Carla Overbeck - Defender, U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer Team

FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARRIVE
The family and friends of the U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team players arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday and Wednesday, an 80-strong contingent sure to make their share of noise in the mammoth MCG. Many of the players spent several hours in the afternoon with their families strolling the streets of Melbourne or sitting and chatting in the hotel lobby.

PEARCES' MAKE IT THROUGH CUSTOMS
The parents of U.S. defender Christie Pearce, making their first trip outside the United States, arrived in Australia without visas on Monday, unaware that they needed them to gain admission into Australia. After some confusion at the airport, the Pearce's were granted electronic visas and their airline was fined $15,000, five grand each for her mom, dad and brother, for letting them board the plane in Newark, N.J. without visas.

SWAMI BRANDI
Many of the U.S. players have been doing daily yoga sessions to videotapes that Brandi Chastain brought to Australia at the request of Kate Sobrero. During the last 20-minutes sessions, at which as many as half the team and a few staff members have taken part, the U.S. players work on stretching, relaxation and breathing techniques.

MJ AT THE MCG
Perhaps the most famous female U.S. Olympian, Marion Jones, is in Melbourne preparing for her assault on five gold medals when the track and field competition begins next week, and may take in the U.S. women's game vs. Norway on Thursday. There is no truth to the rumor that the Americans would suit up Marion and try to flight a few long balls over the top of the Norwegian defense for her to run on to.

U.S. WOMEN ON THE TODAY SHOW
U.S. players Brandi Chastain, Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly and Carla Overbeck will appear on the Today Show on Wednesday morning in the United States at around 8:35 a.m., speaking with Katie Couric in Sydney via satellite. Numerous U.S. players also taped Video Postcards for their friends and family back home that won't make it Down Under, which will be aired during the next two weeks on the Today Show.

NORWAY ARRIVES
The Norwegian Women's National Team checked into the "Olympic Football Hotel" here on Monday, the last of the eight who will open their tournament at the MCG on Wednesday and Thursday. Already here were the Australian, Italian, Moroccan and Chilean men's teams, as well as the Brazilian and Swedish women's teams.

"THE G"
On the U.S. players got their first look at the inside of the famed Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday as they were given a guide tour of the facilities. The players walked the pitch, took photos and then departed for training at another ground. The U.S. was scheduled for a short training at the MCG, but the rains forced organizers to cancel all training. The sun and wind has been a boon for the field maintenance crews, who hope the good weather will dry out the pitch in preparation for the games tonight. The MCG was built for the 1956 Olympic Games, but since has been expanded and remodeled considerably. With the soccer field set on a field big enough for an Aussie Rules match, the space surrounding the field is massive, meaning ball boys and girls must get on their horses, while the dimensions will be as large as any field for a FIFA competition.

U.S. WOMEN TO ATTEND OPENING CEREMONIES
The U.S. women will fly from Melbourne to Sydney on the morning of Sept. 15, after facing Norway the night before, to march in the Opening Ceremonies for the 2000 Olympics Games. The team may train in the morning before leaving for Sydney and will return to Melbourne on the morning of the 16th, possibly training in the afternoon, then faces China on Sept. 17 at the MCG.

INJURY REPORT:
All players are healthy and available for the USA's opening match against Norway on Sept. 14.

LITTLE KNOW FACT:
U.S. midfielders Shannon MacMillan and Nikki Serlenga went to the same high school in Escondido, Calif., north of San Diego, albeit at different times. They did play on the same club team and Serlenga's mom drove MacMillan to countless practices and games.

BUSH REPLACES PRYCE AS ALTERNATE
Defender Nandi Pryce, one of the USA's four alternates, fractured her left tibia last week in a match against Vanderbilt while playing in just her fifth game for UCLA as a freshman. Pryce underwent surgery to insert a steel rod in her leg and will miss the season, but is expected back in action in about six months. U.S. head coach April Heinrichs named forward Susan Bush, currently a sophomore at North Carolina, to take her place on the alternate list. Bush played in seven games in 2000 for the USA, scoring three goals with five assists. She was also a member of the U.S. Under-21 team that won the Nordic Cup last summer.

STAT OF NOTE:
Norway is the only team in the world that has an all-time winning record against the USA. The Americans are 12-14-2 all-time against Norway, but have outscored them in those matches, 45-41.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
U.S. Brandi Chastain after being asked if she was going to take anything off during the Olympics: "No, actually, we're all hoping to put something on (a gold medal) when this thing is over."

A LOOK AT THE USA-NORWAY RIVALRY
The USA and Norway women's soccer rivalry is one of the oldest and most intense in the world. The teams have met 28 times since first knocked heads in 1987, and Norway remains the only team in the world with a winning record against the USA. The Americans are 12-14-2 against the 1995 Women's World Cup champions and have met Norway in several of the most historic matches in women's soccer history. In 1991, the two teams clashed in the first-ever Women's World Cup Final, as Michelle Akers scored both goals in the 2-1 victory. In the 1995 Women's World Cup, Norway eliminated the USA with an emotional 1-0 victory in the semifinals at Vasteras, Sweden, and the pain from that loss helped propel the Americans to victories at the 1996 Olympics and 1999 Women's World Cup.

The two teams met in the semifinals of the 1996 Olympics, and the USA excised some demons with a 2-1 "golden goal" victory as Shannon MacMillan came off the bench to score the winner. The teams did not meet at the 1999 Women's World Cup, as Norway was eliminated by China in a 5-0 drubbing, but will clash in the opening game of the Olympics as they meet in the first round of a world championship for the first time. This will be the amazing seventh meeting of 2000 between the two teams. Here is a look at the first six:

Feb. 6 Norway 2-3 L Hamm, Lilly Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 12,031
The very first match under April Heinrichs sees seven players play who would not make the Olympic team. The USA holds a 2-1 lead 80 minutes into the game, but gives up two goals in the last 10 minutes, including an own goal and a spectacular strike from Dagney Mellgren deep into stoppage time that proved fatal.

Feb. 9 Norway 1-2 L Welsh Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
CLOSED DOOR
Heinrichs plays almost an entirely different lineup from the match three days earlier. The USA has a sluggish offensive performance as the match was played in 40-mile-an-hour winds. Hege Riise scored a spectacular goal in the second half to give Norway the two-game sweep. Young Christie Welsh scores one of her 11 goals in 2000 on an assist from Jena Kluegel.

March 18 Norway# 1-0 W Chastain Loulé, Portugal 850
The USA wins a battle of wills in the rugged Algarve Cup championship game, winning the tournament for the first time in six attempts. Brandi Chastain's penalty kick in the 9th minute after Mia Hamm was fouled holds up for the next 81 minutes as Siri Mullinix plays a spectacular game on goal.

July 16 Norway 1-0 W Milbrett Osnabrück, Germany 2,500
The team square off in the DFB Jubilee Tournament opener and a brilliant solo effort goal from Tiffeny Milbrett, plus some stellar defensive play, gives the USA its second 1-0 win in a row over Norway.

July 27 Norway 1-1 T Serlenga Tromsø, Norway 3,810
The USA's first-ever match against Norway in Norway ends in a draw after Nikki Serlenga's 63rd minute goal equalizes. Marianne Pettersen had put Norway ahead in just the third minute in the match played in Northern Norway, about 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

July 30 Norway 1-2 L Parlow Oslo, Norway 15,762
The USA out-shoots Norway, 16-9, but Dagney Mellgren scores a great goal in the 62nd minute and then an 81st minute own goal does the Americans in. Cindy Parlow pulled a goal back in stoppage time, but it was too little, too late, in front of the largest crowd ever to watch a women's soccer match in Norway.

TENTATIVE - SUBJECT TO CHANGE

• Thursday, Sept. 14 5:30 p.m. USA vs. Norway - Melbourne Cricket Ground
• Friday, Sept. 15 The U.S. Team will not train, but will travel to Sydney for Opening Ceremonies
• Sunday, Sept. 17 5:30 p.m. USA vs. China - Melbourne Cricket Ground

QUOTES FROM TIFFENY MILBRETT AND SHANNON MACMILLAN CONFERENCE CALL:

Milbrett on goalkeeper Siri Mullinix:
"She came in not expecting to play a lot as Briana seemingly had the #1 spot locked up. But Bri got injured, and Siri came on strong. She gave the best she had and definitely earned the #1 spot. She's commanding back there. She has a calming effect on the team, wants to take charge of the defensive third, is a leader back there and organizes well for us."

MacMillan on the keys to the Norway match:
"We want to score early and often, so we're going to come out in our aggressive style try to make Norway adjust to us."

Milbrett on the keys to the Norway match:
"Finishing is everything. Siri and the defense can be back there stopping goals, but the midfielders and forwards have to put the ball in the net. But I think good things are happening, especially at the last Brazil game. We scored a lot of great goals."

MacMillan on the Olympics perhaps being the last tournament for the U.S. veterans:
"That's added a little more pressure on us, knowing that it may be the last time we get to play with some of the founding members of this team. So for me, I want to put my heart and soul on line for them and enjoy what may be our last tournament with them and help them finish their legacy with a gold medal."

MacMillan on the USA preparation that included 33 matches this year:
"Right now, our main focus is on Norway. We haven't thought about whether or not we should be tired. We believe what we've done up to this point and we're prepared and ready. All we're looking forward to is the Norway. It's the Olympics and we're all pumped up and ready to go. Training has been awesome since we've been here and its been very relaxed. Everyone looks refreshed and ready to go to it. Once that Olympic hype hits, they'll be no stopping us."

Milbrett on the Olympics being on foreign soil:
"The 1996 Olympics was the most incredible experience to have it our own country. In '99, it was pressure galore to have the World Cup in the States. But having the Olympics in Australia is kind of relaxing, it's going to allow us to focus on our game and what we need to do to win each game. We don't have not worry about selling tickets and putting people in the stands."

MacMillan on the expectations for the team in the United States:
"Everyone wants to see us come back with the gold medal, but the expectations of the people on the outside are never higher than the ones we place on ourselves. We want to continue to play awesome soccer to get people excited about our sport. Nothing beats pulling on your country's jersey and I can guarantee our expectations are higher than anyone's and hopefully we can follow through on that, play our best soccer, and make everyone proud."

MacMillan on the USA and Norway styles:
"Norway likes to play really direct. They pressure us and play a lot of long