U.S. team is ready, willing, but will it be able to win?

BEIJING -- For now, the best place to find American women soccer stars is on the Web.

Mia Hamm has a site. Julie Foudy has a site. Brandi Chastain has a site. You can guess what that one is called.

Yep, www.itsnotaboutthebra.com "> www.itsnotaboutthebra.com .

For now, the best place to catch American women soccer stars is in our computers and our memories, as their anonymous replacements have struggled to keep our attention.

Thursday they'll have another chance in the Olympic final against Brazil.

Thursday they can get rid of that shadow.

Pardon them if they can't wait.

"Mia Hamm and all those women, they were the pioneers, and I thank them," midfielder Carli Lloyd said. "But this is a different generation. We want to make our own memories."

If it sounds as if the women have a Hamm-sized chip on their shoulder, well, they do.

Since arriving in Beijing, they have fielded critical questions about their inability to live up to the hype created by the original stars, who won two Olympic titles and two World Cup titles.

"We need to prove a lot of people wrong, shut a lot of people up," Lloyd said. "If we win, it would take a lot of that stuff away."

Despite a decent showing here so far, the women are also still reeling from last fall's semifinal World Cup loss to Brazil, a game that featured the benching of goalkeeper Hope Solo.

When Solo criticized the move, she was ostracized by the team. Since then, a coach has been fired and team captains have been replaced and -- guess what -- Solo is back in goal.

Pardon her if she especially can't wait.

"It will be nice to get back something that you lost," she said.

Nice, but tough, as Brazil has been this tournament's fastest team while also trying to remove a chip.

Despite their talent, the Brazilians lost last year's World Cup to Germany, and have yet to win an Olympics.

"We're excited to see them, we're familiar with their style, it will be a great game," midfielder Heather O'Reilly said.

A great game if they win. Another damaging game if they lose.

The U.S. team's best player, Abby Wambach, is out because of a broken leg, and few people have heard of any of the others.