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 Women's World Cup Soccer Recap (United States-China) Posted: Sat July 10, 1999 at 9:42 p.m. EDT CHINA 0, UNITED STATES 0 (U.S. WINS 5-4 ON PENALTY KICKS)PASADENA, California (Ticker) -- Midfielder Brandi Chastain buried a penalty kick in the fifth round to give the United States a victory over China and its second Women's World Cup title at the Rose Bowl. A former forward, Chastain calmly stroked her left-footed shot past Chinese goalkeeper Gao Hong and just inside the right goalpost to send the sellout crowd of 90,185 into delirium. Chastain took off her jersey as she was mobbed by her teammates. "I didn't get caught up in looking at Gao," Chastain said. "I'd taken coach's advice and switched to my left foot, so when the whistle blew, I just stepped up and hit it. I thought, `Oh my God.' This is the greatest moment of my life on the soccer field." The crowd included President Clinton, who presented the trophy to the winning team, and was the largest for a women's sporting event in the United States. U.S. 'keeper Briana Scurry, who played marvelously in the semifinal win over Brazil, stopped Liu Ying in third round. Scurry dove to her left and parried away the shot. "I don't even remeber which side it was on," Scurry said. "I read the kick pretty well, she hit it pretty hard, but I don't think she placed it that well. I know I just had to make the save." Carla Overbeck, Joy Fawcett, Kristine Lilly and Mia Hamm preceded Chastain as the Americans were perfect in their five attempts. Xie Huilin, Qiu Haiyan and captain Sun Wen scored for China. The U.S. captured its second World Cup title after winning the inaugural tournament in 1991. They became the first host nation to win the championship in the third edition of the Women's World Cup. The teams battled through a tense 120-minute scoreless standoff befitting two squads that combined to allow five goals in the tournament. The closest either team came to scoring came in the 100th minute. Off a corner kick by Liu Ying, Fan Yunjie fired a header that was cleared off the goal line by Lilly. "Kristine really did her job," Chastain said. "That was the spot she had to be in. She was where she should be at that time. That's the bottom line." Both teams did oustanding jobs on the opponents' stars -- Mia Hamm of the U.S. and Sun Wen of China. Both players had three shots. "First, congratulations to the American team, they are the winners," Sun Wen said. "Both teams had a great performance today, but the American team was more lucky and fortunate." The squads played more defensively than expected because of the offensive explosiveness of both squads. The U.S. maintained possession but could not generate any quality scoring chances. "We tried to concentrate on defense early and then we started to counterattack," China coach Ma Yuanan said. "We are really disappointed." Hamm, the American midfield star, had a free kick from 40 yards in the eighth minute but her pass just missed the foot of a lunging Michelle Akers. The closest the U.S. came to testing Gao Hong was on a long-range shot from Akers in the 12th minute that was easily knocked down and controlled. Akers left at the end of regulation after being accidentally hit in the head by Scurry as she punched away a corner kick. Scurry made only two saves, while Hong stopped four shots. The United States improved to 12-5-5 all-time against China and 16-1-1 in World Cup competition. © 2000 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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