OS ANGELES - Though the World Cup organizers say they could sell all 92,000 Rose Bowl seats for Saturday's US-China final, odds are they won't because the final few thousand have obstructed views. ''We would love to make history with a big 9 in front of the attendance figure, but I just don't know if it's feasible,'' committee president Marla Messing said yesterday. ''We are trying to open up every viable seat. Even though people will buy anything we put on sale, some of them are just not very good seats.''
After announcing a sellout of more than 85,000 Monday, organizers put another 3,500 tickets on sale and may offer a few hundred more. ''I think if we had 120,000 seats we could sell them all,'' said Messing. ''But I think we'll end up somewhere between 88,000 and 90,000.''
The Rose Bowl record for soccer is 101,799 for the 1984 Olympic men's final between France and Brazil, but the stadium has since been downsized several times. Nearly 94,000 watched the US men defeat Colombia there in the 1994 Cup. Even if Saturday's figure ends up at 88,000, it will be the largest number ever for a women's sporting event. The record is 78,972 for the Cup opener between the US and Denmark at Giants Stadium. Attendance for the six US matches will surpass 410,000 - nearly quadruple the mark for the entire 1995 Cup in Sweden.
Many watchful eyes
The US-Brazil semifinal on July 4, which was played when most American families were firing up the backyard grill, still set an ESPN record for soccer. The match was seen in 2.9 million homes (a 3.8 rating), topping the 2.7 million for the 1994 US-Colombia men's match. The rating nearly doubled the 2.19 for the US-Germany women's quarterfinal last Thursday night ... Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy, who know their way around a loft wedge, will play in the pro-am before next week's LPGA event in New Rochelle, N.Y. Hamm, who took up golf when she was a senior at the University of North Carolina, says she's a 12-handicap. ''It was a real good way for me to let out frustration and develop my psychological dimension,'' she says. ''Anyone who has ever played golf understands that if you can't get over a bad shot, you're finished for the entire round. Golf has taught me a lot of patience.'' Hamm did manage to get in nine holes with pro-wannabe Michael Jordan when they were filming their Nike commercial. ''I was so nervous,'' Hamm admits. ''I didn't play well at all.''
Worlds apart
With the US men's team (last in last year's World Cup) suffering mightily by comparison to his squad, women's coach Tony DiCicco says a bit of perspective is needed. ''The men get a beating, but it's not easy where they entered the world game, generations and generations behind,'' he says. ''They've been very supportive of us, sending us e-mails and faxes. We're trying to grow soccer together in this country.'' ... So what does the Chinese team think of the Land of 1,000 Cuisines? Not much, judging from its menu sample during the World Cup. ''The food is too simple, the variety too limited,'' says coach Ma Yuanan. So the team has resorted to ordering, yes, Chinese takeout. Though the local Chinese community has offered to provide some homestyle ingredients, that's a delicate issue for the team. ''If you meet Chinese people, it takes two hours just to chat,'' muses Ma. ''It is a cultural thing. They are very warm-hearted people here, but we just need the food.'' ... There'll be no reason to break out the video camera if the US reclaims the World Cup Saturday. US keeper Briana Scurry, who dashed naked down a Georgia street with the Olympic gold medal around her neck in 1996, says she'll celebrate more subtly this time. ''Plain Jane,'' she insists. ''That's my name in this World Cup.''
