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Overbeck vows respect ahead of grudge Olympic Final with Norway
SYDNEY, Sept 27 (AFP) - Thursday's Olympic women's football final between the United States and Norway will be a love-in not a grudge match - at least as far as the Americans are concerned. Before and during the Olympic tournament the Americans have made it clear the Norwegians are their keenest foes. But at Wednesday's pre-final press call respect was the mantra for the reigning Olympic and World Champions, keen to cool the ardour that traditionally characterises matches between the teams. World Cup winning skipper Carla Overbeck, who will quit after the Olympics, was keen to stress that respect was the byword for the final. "Both teams just have a tremendous amount of respect for each other," insisted defender Overbeck who has 165 caps but has not yet played in the Sydney Olympic campaign. "We bring out the best in them and they bring out the best in us," said the North Carolina resident who skippered the American women to their landmark World Cup win last year in front of a record attendance for a woman's sporting event. The final at the Sydney Football Ground will be the last hurrah for Overbeck who has already announced her intention to have more children after the Games but it could also represent the beginning of the end for other veterans Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain and July Foudy. Michelle Akers also quit before the Games because of injury. American coach April Heinrichs admit that the old guard is departing but said: "We are in a period of transition with the arrival of new players. But we always accept new challenges and we have not lost motivation." Overbeck has been largely reduced to a watching role in her final campaign but admits that a victory in the final over Norway would cap a perfect career. Despite Overbeck's diplomacy there has been a fierce rivalry between the countries. Before the Olympic tournament American players admitted they still resented the Conga celebration by Norwegian players after they knocked out the United States on the way to World Cup glory back in 1995. Since then the States have redeemed themselves with the Olympic and World titles. Overbeck, dubbed 'the Queen of the Jungle' after posing in a leopard suit, studiously avoided comparisons with last year's World Cup success. In that campaign a penalty shoot-out victory against the Chinese ended a glory run that had seen America's women succeed where their men had failed in the 1994 World Cup - popularising the planet's most popular sport in the one major country that had hitherto resisted the charms of 'soccer'. "You just can't compare this event with last year," said Overbeck. Overbeck, a 32-year-old mother of a three-year-old son Jackson, won her 100th cap for her country in the last Olympic final but has already said she would quit after the Olympic campaign. Victory over Norway would be the perfect finale. Norwegian coach Per-Mathias Hogmo, who is poised to step down after these Games, is also looking for the right send-off from his players. After the semi-final eclipse of Germany - achieved by a dreadful own goal by Tina Wunderlich - Hogmo believed that fortune could also favour the Scandinavians. "We have had a bit of luck," he said, referring to the semi-final. "But we put in a good performance in this tournament and we are feeling good ahead of the final.
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