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Sunday, October 1
An era ends for U.S. women's soccer
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- The simple lessons learned in the
Olympic soccer tournament: Africa still owns the men's game, but
the Americans are no longer masters of the women's.
The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon took over from Nigeria's Super
Eagles as Olympic champions after scoring a penalty shootout
victory over 9-man Spain in the final, while Norway upset the
United States 3-2 on a golden goal in the women's final.
Cameroon and Spain had fought out a thrilling 2-2 tie after
extra time Saturday, with the Africans triumphing 5-3 in the
shootout.
That result backed up Africa's belief that it remains the future
of the game, despite the fact that South Africa's bid to stage the
2006 World Cup was beaten by Germany in July.
"I think this (victory) is a motivational development not just
for Cameroon but for African soccer," said Cameroon coach
Jean-Paul Akono. "I don't think we are very far from a World Cup
in a few years from now."
Chile downed the United States 2-0 for the bronze medal, with
Inter Milan striker Ivan Zamorano scoring both goals to finish top
scorer with six.
The fact that four different confederations were represented in
the semifinal was a bonus for the good of the worldwide game.
With national coach Wanderley Luxemburgo in charge, Brazil
started off as pre-tournament favorites. But young stars such as
Ronaldinho, Alex and Athirson failed to shine, and the team was
beaten 2-1 in the quarterfinal on an extra-time golden goal by a
Cameroon team down to nine men.
The Italians, coached by 1982 World Cup star Marco Tardelli,
looked a strong bet for the title after winning their group, but
lost 1-0 to Spain in the quarterfinal when they conceded a late
goal.
With AS Roma midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata performing well, Japan
also looked good until it ran into the Americans in the quarters.
The Japanese were expected to win, but twice let leads slip and
then conceded a last-minute penalty in a 2-2 tie.
The American team, under the guidance of Englishman Clive
Charles, got far further than ever before, but was beaten soundly
3-1 by Spain in the semis and Chile in the bronze medal game.
FIFA was delighted with the standard of play in the men's game,
but disappointed with the lack of competitive action in the
women's.
But Norway's victory over the Americans -- after being a goal
down after only five minutes -- at least ended the U.S. domination.
The Americans, fielding 10 of the 1996 lineup, were Olympic and
World Cup holders and, having beaten the Norwegians 2-0 in a
one-sided group game, were expected to maintain the streak.
But Dagny Mellgren fired an extra time winner, and Norwegian
coach Per-Matthias Hagmo came up with a good reason to argue his
team had taken over as world No. 1.
"We have beaten the United States four times this year, China
three times and Germany twice," Hagmo said.
Germany won its first Olympic women's soccer medal by downing
World Cup bronze medalist Brazil 2-0, while the Chinese --
runners-up at both the 1996 Olympic and '99 World Cup finals --
surprisingly didn't even make it to the semifinal.
Drawn in the same group as the Americans and Norwegians, with
just two advancing, the Chinese lost out. Their aging team is
likely to break up.
FIFA saluted both finalists, but admitted the women's tournament
didn't match up to the men's.
"The final was a spectacular demonstration of the power of
women's soccer," FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper said. "Some of the
other matches have been a big disappointment but, overall, the
tournament has been positive. The fact that the first women's World
Cup was less than 10 years ago, we must be careful not to expect
too much too early."
With FIFA anxious not to let the Olympic competition rival its
own World Cup, the men's tournament for now remains restricted to
players under the age of 23, with the option of using three older
stars.
"The feeling is we are happy with what we have got," Cooper
said. "By the end of the year, the so-called FIFA Strategic Study
Committee will have looked at Olympic football and we will see what
the general opinion is."
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