Hamm Steals Spotlight in Americans’ Victory

The fragile emotions inside the world’s greatest female soccer player came forth in an unusual and touching moment Saturday night. Mia Hamm scored a goal, then immediately ran to the bench and hugged Coach April Heinrichs.

“Thanks for not giving up on me,” Hamm said.

“I’ll never give up on you,” Heinrichs replied.

Hamm extended her world scoring record with her 121st international goal in the 65th minute, an 18-yard blast off goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc’s outstretched hands, as the United States beat Canada, 4-1, in the semifinals of the Gold Cup.

The Americans will play Brazil in Monday’s title game at Foxboro, Mass., a rematch of the teams that played to a 0-0 tie in group play Wednesday. Brazil beat China, 3-2, in Saturday’s other semifinal.

Shannon MacMillan, starting at forward for the first time this year, scored from 16 and 25 yards out, shots so powerful the goalkeeper just stood and watched them fly past, as the Americans beat their North American neighbors for the 21st consecutive time.

MacMillan scored in the 12th and 38th minutes. Tiffeny Milbrett added a goal in first-half injury time for the Americans, who have won 22 of 23 games against Canada.

But Hamm’s hug stole the show. The game’s most recognizable name suffered through a scoring drought this year after Heinrichs became coach, even though she is still the most feared striker in the world and receives more than her share of attention from defenders.

“I’ve been struggling for a long time,” Hamm said. “I have expectations to score. People have expectations for me to score.”

Heinrichs said Hamm was feeling the pressure of constantly living up to expectations. The U.S. team was on top of the world after winning the World Cup last year, but a players’ strike in the winter and preparations for the Sydney Olympics have given the players a limited time to bask in the glow.

“The hardest thing is there are lot of people tugging us right now,” captain Julie Foudy said. “The real challenge is to keep the main thing the main thing, and that’s to be prepared for Sydney.”

Charmaine Hooper scored a penalty kick in the 58th minute for the Canadians, whose only victory against the Americans came in 1986.

In the earlier game, Cidinha of Brazil scored a sudden-death goal on a penalty kick at the end of the first overtime.