Good old USA

Milbrett and teammates look for home field advantage

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Posted: Friday July 24, 1998 10:21 PM

Milbrett wants to send the crowd wild one more time by repeating the winning goal in the Goodwill Games Andy Lyons/Allsport

UNIONDALE, New York (AP) -- Tiffeny Milbrett remembers the gold-medal-winning shot very well.

After a setup pass from Mia Hamm, Milbrett scored to give the U.S. women's soccer team a 2-1 victory over China in the 1996 Olympic final and send the crowd of 78,000 fans in Athens, Georgia wild.

”I didn't hear the crowd at all,” Milbrett said. “I was just focused on putting that ball in the back of that net.”

Not as many will be cheering, but the world powers in women's soccer are meeting again, this time at the 12,000-seat Mitchel Field in Long Island when the U.S. team plays Denmark Saturday in the debut of soccer at the Goodwill Games.

China plays Norway, the defending World Cup champion, in the other semifinal. The winners will play in the gold-medal game Monday night.

Milbrett and her teammates will put their 36-match domestic winning streak on the line against Denmark. They are glad to be on American soil after swings in China, Portugal and Japan this season.

“We know how amazing the crowd can be [at home],” Milbrett said. “[In Atlanta], the crowd gave spark and energy like a 12th man. We're proud and eager to play in front f our fans.'

Hamm, who leads the U.S. team with 11 goals and 13 assists in 17 games this season, is back to full strength after missing three games in May because of a hamstring injury. Milbrett is close behind with eight goals.

Both the United States and Norway have World Cup titles, the Americans winning the first title in 1991 and Norway winning four years later.

Hamm, who suffered a hamstring injury, leads the U.S. team with 11 goals and 13 assists in 17 games this season Andy Lyons/Allsport

The United States will host the 1999 World Cup, with the opening games and opening ceremonies at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

”It's a tuneup for next year's World Cup,” U.S. coach Tony DiCicco said. “Norway, China and Denmark will all be in that field. Were excited because it gives us a chance to test ourselves against the best.”

The United States is 5-3-1 all-time against the Danes, 9-11-1 over 11 years against Norway and 10-3-4 against China.

In their last meeting, the United States beat Denmark 3-0 in the first round of the 1996 Olympics. Since then, the Danes have added new players to the roster.

“We don't know their personnel as well as we'd like to,” Milbrett, said. “That's our biggest concern.”

The other challenge is potentially facing Norway, which handed the U.S. women their worst loss in their 13-year history, 4-1, last March in Portugal.

”Norway is our archrival,” Milbrett said. “I don't know if anybody on either team likes each other. Everybody looks to knock off No. 1.”

The U.S beat Norway 2-1 in overtime to advance to the gold-medal game in Atlanta. The Americans beat the Norwegians 3-0 in January and took the defending world champions too lightly two months later.

”We went into the game too confident,” DiCicco said. “All we can do is take from it what we can and learn from it.”

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