Sweetness found in sour loss

[AP photo] Americans Mia Hamm, left, and Julie Foudy show their pain after losing to Norway 3-2 in overtime in the soccer gold medal game.

By JOHN ROMANO

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 29, 2000

SYDNEY, Australia -- Did it hurt? When the goal was scored in overtime and the Norwegians were celebrating their gold medal, did it hurt? When the U.S. players lingered at midfield to hug one another while fighting back tears, did it hurt? They hope it did. They hope it hurt real bad.

Because that will be the legacy of the U.S. women's soccer team. Not that it failed to defend its 1996 Olympic gold medal but that during the past few years, it made you care whether it did.

"What makes me most satisfied," defender Brandi Chastain said, "is that you care enough to write about this and that people in America care enough to read about it. It validates everything we have worked for."

That is why Chastain could look so cheerful with a silver medal around her neck. That is why Carla Overbeck could announce her retirement from the national team after the game and not feel cheated that her career ended with a 3-2 overtime loss to Norway. That is why losing is sometimes important -- to remind us just how good winning feels.

"This team has something to be proud of," Overbeck said, "not just winning or losing games, but the way we've promoted women's soccer and touched people's lives."

If there was any reason for sadness Thursday, it was that this team might never be around again to enjoy the victories and mourn the losses. Not the U.S. national team, but this particular team. This core group of players who made America notice women's soccer in the '96 Olympics and then fall in love with it during the '99 World Cup.

If their time has not already passed, it has few pages remaining on the calendar.

Michelle Akers retired weeks before the Olympics. Overbeck has followed. Chastain is 32. So is Joy Fawcett. Mia Hamm, Tiffeny Milbrett and Julie Foudy will be past 30 by the time the next World Cup comes around.

"Coach (April) Heinrichs has a lot of time to decide what direction she wants to go with this team, whether she wants to keep some of the veterans to mix in with new players or just go with younger ones," said Milbrett, who scored both goals Thursday, including a header to tie the score with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

"It won't be the same team as it has the last 10 years. It's definitely going to be a new era. And one that could be better for U.S. soccer."

That would be just about impossible. First of all, this team was as talented and as tough as any in the world. It won two of the past three World Cups and took silver and gold in the past two Olympic Games.

The United States had not lost a tournament this year before Dagny Mellgren kicked a shot just under the reach of goalkeeper Siri Mullinix 10 minutes into overtime.

"It was good for the sport for all to see that it's possible to beat the U.S.," Norway coach Per-Mathias Hagmo said. "It's a good feeling for all the work that has been done in all the other countries."

Yet, the U.S. team should be measured in terms far grander than wins and losses. Think about Chastain on the cover of Newsweek after last year's World Cup victory. Or Hamm sharing commercials with Michael Jordan.

These players had charisma nearly equal to their athletic talents. They made women's soccer the only team sport in America that may be more popular than the men's game. Beginning next year, pro soccer becomes a reality with the Women's United Soccer Association.

"Everyone who has come here before us has laid the groundwork for what we have now," said defender Lorrie Fair, one of the youngest players at 22. "We're never going to forget that. We can't forget that because it is a part of every training session we have."

None of the players were willing to predict what would become of the national team. Foudy and Chastain, who made their national team debuts in the summer of 1988, were non-committal about their futures. Milbrett and Hamm seem more likely to be around when the 2003 World Cup is played.

"I'm going to do what I can to come back," Hamm said. "I don't want to end on a note like this. This team is going to move on. The USA is not done."

Players indicated there was much crying in the locker room after Thursday's game, but it was not necessarily related to the score.

"There were a lot of tears shed, but this isn't going to be the last time we're together," Overbeck said. "We can't stay away from each other. We'll vacation together if we have to. We will stay together somehow."

It would hurt too much otherwise.

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