For 95 minutes Sunday, Shannon MacMillan fidgeted on the bench, hoping to catch coach Tony DiCicco's eye. When he finally gave her the high sign, she made a hero of herself and a genius of DiCicco.
MacMillan's goal 10 minutes into sudden-death overtime gave the U.S. women a 2-1 victory over world-champion Norway, and, with it, a berth in the first Olympic gold-medal soccer game for women.The United States (3-0-1) will face China (3-0-1) here Thursday night for the gold. The Chinese scored a dramatic 3-2 win over Brazil in the other semifinal Sunday and also had a substitute to thank. Wei Haiying came off the bench to score the tying goal in the 83rd minute and the winner in the 90th.
A crowd of 64,196 paid from $31 up to $130 a ticket to see the first soccer game staged in Sanford Stadium. Previous rounds had been played in Orlando, Miami, Birmingham and Washington, D.C. The famous hedges between which football's Georgia Bulldogs hunker down were removed to allow for the wider playing surface.
"Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd be playing in my home country, in front of 60,000 people," said U.S. forward Tiffeny Milbrett. "We're in America, and people want to see a gold medal. They've come to the right place."
It was Milbrett whom DiCicco pulled in favor of MacMillan five minutes into the sudden-death period. The 21-year-old former University of Portland player is among the speediest on the team, and her fresh legs were obvious.
The game-winner came on a pass that Julia Foudy flicked through a Norwegian defender, and MacMillan, with only goalie Bente Norby to beat, booted the ball into left corner of the net.
"I saw Julia coming toward the box and I made a diagonal cut, and there was just a little opening," MacMillan said. "She passed the ball through at a perfect pace. All I had to do was strike it."
DiCicco said the only reason he held MacMillan in reserve so long was concern that star forward Mia Hamm wouldn't last the game. Hamm, considered in some quarters the world's best player, played on a strained ankle after sitting out a 0-0 tie with China last Thursday in Miami.
Hamm was dogged by the aggressive Norwegian defense.
"That's what we expect from Norway," Hamm said. "No quarter asked for, no quarter given, basically."
Linda Medalen, a 31-year-old Oslo policewoman, gave Norway a 1-0 lead when she scored in the penalty area in the 18th minute.
There it stayed until the 76th minute when Michelle Akers scored on a penalty kick after being interfered with, a call the Norwegian players disputed and about which neither coach would comment.
In the 86th minute, Norway's Agnete Carlsen was sent off with a red card, giving the U.S. a numerical advantage, which, ultimately might have contributed to the game-winning goal.
MacMillan's score, her second of the Olympic tournament, ignited a wild celebration and lifted a burden off the U.S. team. A loss to Norway in the semifinals of the 1995 Women's World Cup had hung around like dirty laundry.
"Since June, 17, 1995, we have been working on ways of beating Norway," said DiCicco. "Last year, Norway was the best team and deserved to win. This year, we were the better team and deserved to win."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Brazil men eye gold
ATLANTA (Reuter) - Brazil's dreams of an elusive Olympic soccer gold move one step closer when they meet Nigeria in the semifinal in Athens, Georgia, on Wednesday.
Brazil, the pre-tournament favorite, is heavily fancied to book a berth in the weekend's final against either Argentina or Portugal who play in the other semifinal on Tuesday. Victory for the world champions, whose best Olympic performance was a silver medal in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul four years later, will set up the prospect of a mouth-watering clash with one of either of their great footballing rivals.
Argentina, which demolished Spain 4-0 in its quarterfinal on Saturday, took second place to Brazil in the South American qualifying tournament in February.
Portugal shares a common language, cultural and fierce on-field rivalry with its former colony.
But Brazil will still have to get past a determined Nigerian side, seeking to become the first Africans to reach an Olympic final.