Germans eliminate U.S. in World Cup

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Posted 5:34AM on Monday, October 6, 2003

PORTLAND, OREGON - Four years after Brandi Chastain ripped her jersey off in celebration, Mia Hamm pulled hers over her face to hide the tears. Hamm, idolized by countless young girls and the dominant force in U.S. women's soccer, was shut out in her last World Cup semifinal. The U.S. defense of its World Cup title ended in a 3-0 loss Sunday to a German team that was simply too good. The defeat was even more painful because it came on home turf, where the Americans had been invincible. The capacity crowd of 27,623 in cozy but raucous PGE Park - many of them youngsters wearing No. 9 jerseys with the name "Hamm" on the back - chanted "USA, USA, USA" to the finish and then after the game ended. Hamm hugged her teammates, tears streaming down her cheeks, then gamely clapped along with the crowd. "All those girls in the stands, that's the legacy," Hamm said. Time after time, Hamm and her teammates threatened only to be thwarted by the spectacular play of goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg and the rest of the German defenders. "We brought our 'A' game in terms of the attacking," U.S. coach April Heinrichs said. "That's a great team we played. I've got to think that maybe this was the greatest game ever played in women's soccer." Hamm and the rest of the aging core of U.S. players had wanted so badly to go out with another Cup triumph this year and then Olympic gold in 2004. Now only the games in Athens provide an attainable goal. After that, Hamm will retire. "It was a hard loss because of the way it went down," U.S. goalkeeper Briana Scurry said. "They were bending and bending, but they didn't break." Kerstin Garefrekes' header off Renate Lingor's corner kick glanced off the crossbar and into the net in the 15th minute, then the Germans withstood one U.S. threat after another. Two goals in the final two minutes sealed the win. Fittingly enough, they came from German stars Maren Meinert and Birgit Prinz. Meinert, the MVP of the WUSA professional soccer league this year in its final season, had planned to retire but was coaxed back to the national team. Prinz scored seven of Germany's 23 goals in its five World Cup matches. "Everybody had a chance," Prinz said, "and I think in the end we were lucky and we finished our chances. We were totally excited to beat the U.S. We usually lose important games to them." Germany will play Sweden for the World Cup title next Sunday in Carson, Calif. The United States will face Canada, which lost 2-1 to Sweden in the other semifinal, for third place. "I said to the German coach after the game `Go and win it,'" Heinrichs said, "because that certainly is one of the best teams I've seen in a long time." It was the second World Cup loss ever for the United States and first since it was beaten by Norway in the 1995 semifinals. The Norwegians went on to beat Germany for the championship. The United States is 19-2-2 in World Cup competition. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in China, but was moved to the United States because of a SARS epidemic. The stage seemed set for a U.S. repeat as the Americans advanced through a tough group and a difficult 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Norway. Germany, meanwhile, rolled through its preliminary competition, outscoring its opponents 20-3 going into the semis. Hamm sent a perfect feed to Tiffeny Milbrett in the 74th minute, leaving the American forward one-on-one with the German goalkeeper. But her shot sailed high over the net. The last gasp came on Hamm's corner kick in the 89th minute. It fell harmlessly to the ground and the Germans kicked the ball out of danger. "We had opportunities, but it's one thing to create them, it's another to finish them," Hamm said. Chastain, who became the symbol of the 1999 U.S. World Cup victory when she ripped off her shirt after scoring the winning goal, came onto the field after the game to console her teammates. She broke her foot last month in the opening-game win over Sweden. The Germans jumped on each other's backs with joy. Rottenberg held her head in disbelief. So much was written about Germany's potent offense, but its defense can claim credit for the semifinal win. The United States had an 8-1 advantage in shots and 3-1 in shots on goal in the first half. Germany nearly spoiled the U.S. World Cup triumph in 1999, twice leading its quarterfinal match before the Americans rallied to win 3-2. There would be no comeback this time. Garefrekes, the 24-year-old midfielder who scored two goals in the 7-1 quarterfinal rout of Russia, could not have headed Lingor's corner kick into a better spot. The ball was hit so high that there was no way Scurry could reach it. It was only the second goal allowed by the United States in the Cup and the first time the Americans had trailed in five matches. Late in the 43rd minute, Abby Wambach drilled a shot from the right side, but Rottenberg made a diving save, this time to her left. Lingor was carried off on a stretcher in the 54th minute with an apparent shoulder injury. Prinz also was hurting but stayed in the match after Scurry deflected two point-blank shots by Germany in the 53rd minute of the match. Two naked women ran onto the field in the 57th minute with signs which read, "Boycott Adidas" and "Adidas Kills Kangaroos." Both were taken off the field by security. Adidas is the World Cup sponsor and the protest by a California-based animal rights group was aimed at the use of kangaroo skin in athletic shoes.