ALO ALTO, Calif. - Though the video replay clearly showed that Mia Hamm was pushed down in the area, Brazilian coach Wilson de Oliveira was furious that Finnish referee Katriina Elovirta whistled for the penalty kick that essentially sealed his squad's fate yesterday.
''It wasn't a correct call,'' he said. ''From my position, I can't even think it was a penalty. If it was going the other way, it would not have been called for us.''
US coach Tony DiCicco diplomatically said he wasn't sure. ''It happened so quickly,'' he mused. ''I thought it was a good call, but I'll have to look at the tape to see.''
Hamm had the worst view, since defender Elane was behind her, and had no idea whether she deserved the call. ''Things like that, you never know what will happen,'' she said. ''I'm just glad Michelle put it away.''
Why didn't Hamm take the penalty kick? Because Michelle Akers usually does. ''I'm just glad she was still on the field at that point to be able to take it,'' said DiCicco, who had considered pulling Akers at halftime after she'd taken two shots to the head.
Feel the heat
Akers, whose chronic fatigue syndrome usually worsens when she plays in summer heat, has been a workhorse during this Cup. She played the full 90 minutes against Denmark and was pulled at halftime of the Nigeria match only because the US was up by five goals. Then, after being held out of the all-but-meaningless date with the North Koreans to rest, Akers played the full match against both Germany and Brazil. One huge help was the charter flight, with bed-sized seats, that the US took from Washington to San Francisco after Thursday's quarterfinal. ''If we had taken a commercial flight,'' mused DiCicco, ''I think Michelle might not have been in the game [for the PK].''
Familiar foes
Saturday's US-China final will be a replay of the 1996 Olympic gold-medal match, which the Americans won, 2-1. It will be the 22d time the teams have met (the US leads, 11-5-5), the second time in Cup history (US, 1-0) and the fourth time this year (China, 2-1). The Chinese won, 2-1, at the Algarve Cup in Portugal in March, the Americans won, 2-1, in added time at Hershey, Pa., in April, and the Chinese prevailed three days later, 2-1, in added time at Giants Stadium, ending the Americans' 50-match domestic winning streak ... Why would DiCicco bother subbing forward Danielle Fotopoulos for Tiffeny Milbrett with two minutes left in a 2-0 victory? Because Fotopoulos was the only field player who hadn't competed in the Cup and wasn't likely to appear in the final. So the only US players who haven't seen action are backup keepers Saskia Webber and Tracy Ducar.
