Going Out With A Bang

No player seemed more cognizant of that than Hamm, who repeatedly knifed through the German defenders and cut toward the goal--which was how she set up O'Reilly's 99th-minute score from six yards out. Before the match Hamm had watched clips of last year's World Cup loss and decided that, well, Barry Bonds needed to swing for the fences. "I wasn't as aggressive as I should have been [last year]," she said. "If it's an organized back line, the way you beat it is to try and tear it apart."

Tear it apart. It was a merciless sentiment from women's soccer's most merciless goal scorer, suddenly back at the top of her game.