American women to face Brazil for soccer gold

By SCOTT PITONIAK

Gannett News Service

HERAKLIO, Crete — The "Win One for Mia and the Gang'' speech U.S. women's soccer coach April Heinrichs delivered before Monday's Olympic semifinal match won't go down in sports annals with Knute Rockne's "Win One for the Gipper.'' But it got the job done.

The Americans, sparked by several of their up-and-comers, defeated the Germans, 2-1, in an epic match that required two 15-minute overtime periods to decide.

The hero of this two-hour marathon on a muggy night at Pankritio Stadium wound up being 19-year-old Heather O'Reilly. The University of North Carolina sophomore took a pass from her idol, Mia Hamm, at the 99th minute to score the winning goal.

That the youngest player on the American squad would make the decisive score was appropriate, given that O'Reilly was one of the young players Heinrichs was appealing to in her pre-game speech.

"It was interesting that April brought it up because she didn't mention a word about it before,'' O'Reilly said. "I think she was waiting for the right moment.''

And what better moment to play your psychological trump card than before a rematch with a German team that defeated you in the 2003 World Cup semifinals — a match O'Reilly couldn't compete in because she was recuperating from a broken leg.

Heinrichs told her young players: "It's only fitting for these women to go out on top, and we need to do it for them.''

Everyone got into the act as the United States earned a spot in the gold medal match vs. Brazil in Athens Thursday. Brazil defeated Sweden 1-0.

The Americans defeated the Brazilians 2-0 in a foul-marred match last week.

The United States dominated Germany from the start, taking a 1-0 lead at the 33rd minute on a goal by Kristine Lilly, who along with Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Joy Fawcett and Julie Foudy comprise the core group that has helped the Americans to two World Cup titles and Olympic gold and silver medals.

The U.S. team had several other scoring opportunities in the first half as both Hamm and Abby Wambach sailed shots over the cross bar. But Wambach atoned for her near-miss by threading a touch pass to Lilly for the veteran's third goal of the Olympics.

In the second half, the U.S. suffered a huge loss when captain Julie Foudy injured her right ankle when German forward Isabell Bachor rolled into her. Foudy tried to stay in the game, but called for a replacement after five minutes.

"I tried to give it a go, but it was no use,'' said Foudy, whose status for the gold medal game is doubtful. "I didn't want to stay out there and hurt the team.''

With 14 minutes left in regulation, goal keeper Briana Scurry made a nice save on a on a free kick from about 20 yards by Renate Lingor. The Germans kept the pressure on, and nearly scored a half-minute later when Steffi Jones banged one off the crossbar.

Regulation ended with the United States still leading, but the officials determined that five more minutes had to be played because of injury time. One minute later, Bachor stunned the Americans when she broke down the left side, beat Christie Rampone to the outside, then launched a shot that deflected off Fawcett's right hip and past the helpless Scurry.

The injury time session ended tied at 1, necessitating two back-to-back 15-minute periods. One minute into the first extra session, O'Reilly hit the post with a left-footed kick from about 10 yards.

But she would get another shot at the 99-minute mark, and this time she wouldn't miss. Rampone cleared a long pass to Wambach, who deftly fed Hamm. She dribbled past her defender down the right side and crossed a perfect pass to O'Reilly for the winning score.