By Michael Smith, Globe Correspondent, 06/11/99

YARMOUTH -- They are the defending Women's World Cup champions.

And they are favored to win it again.

So it's only natural that in preparation for their title defense, which begins June 20 against Russia at Foxboro Stadium, the Norwegian soccer team began training yesterday at that celebrated center for rigorous physical fitness training known as . . . Cape Cod?

Yes, Cape Cod. The Norwegians, about to compete in one of the biggest events in the history of women's sports, arrived Wednesday afternoon and are staying at the Sheraton Hotel in Hyannis. Not exactly the first place that comes to mind when choosing a practice site. After all, the Cape is a vacation spot. Couples spend their honeymoons here. People come here to relax, unwind, and walk on the beach.

Yet despite a landscape that looks more like postcard material than a practice field, it was all business yesterday during the team's first practice at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School. That's because the Norwegians realize that they did not come here to relax.

While it may seem as though Cape Cod would be a distraction, the team chose it as a practice site instead of a major city such as Boston to avoid just that. Coach Per-Mathias Hogmo said he likes the Cape because it is secluded -- and his team won't get caught up in the bright lights of the city.

``It's good to stay in the area, but we didn't want to stay too close to the city,'' said Hogmo, who has led the Norwegians to 22 victories in 36 matches since taking over as coach in January 1997. ``It's good to not go too early to the city because that will distract you. For us to come here is beautiful. Everything is perfect. So we'll use these days pretty well.''

Though Norway is a favorite to defend its crown, the US team hopes to use the ``home-country advantage'' to reclaim the Cup from its biggest rivals. Quite honestly, the term ``rivalry'' may be too weak to define the history between the American and Norwegian women's soccer teams, arguably the two best in the world. Norway is the only team with a winning record against the United States (11-10-1), including a 4-1 victory at the Algarve Cup in Portugal last March, the Americans' only loss of 1998. In the 1995 Women's World Cup in Sweden, Norway defeated the United States, 1-0, in the semifinals before defeating Germany, 2-0, in the final. The United States took the '91 Cup in China, defeating (guess who?) Norway in the final, 2-1.

Combined, the United States and Norway have produced six of the top 10 goal scorers in Women's World Cup history.

``We will get better and better through the tournament as we play together more,'' said a very diplomatic Hogmo when asked about the Norway-US competition. ``If we do meet the US in the finals, we will be a very strong team. If we meet them, we will be much better than in our first match. We can't talk now about two or three teams. There may be four or five teams that can win the World Cup. And there are no easy matches. Every game here will be very tough.''

Those matches will be even tougher considering the makeup of the Norwegian team has changed significantly the last four years. Linda Medalen, Norway's all-time leading goal scorer (63), who will turn 34 Thursday, has made the move from scorer to defender and now anchors a revamped defensive backfield from the one that helped the Norwegians to the bronze medal in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Also, Bente Nordby, who when healthy is considered one of the world's finest goalkeepers, has been hampered by a sore right knee after two surgeries this spring. But her injuries have not dampened her enthusiasm about this year's tournament and about the possibility of meeting the United States in the final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

``It's always fun to play against the US because they are very good,'' said Nordby, who at 24 is playing in her third World Cup. ``It's fun to meet the very best in the world. I hope to meet the US in the finals.''