LAREMONT, Calif. - They've lost only once on home soil in three years. They've allowed only three goals in the tournament. They'll be playing in the Rose Bowl in front of 90,000 people, roughly 89,500 of whom will be waving the Stars and Stripes. And they've never lost to China at the global level. Yet his squad will still be the underdog in tomorrow's World Cup final, US coach Tony DiCicco insists.
''China has to be the favorite,'' he says. ''They breezed through their group, they breezed through their quarterfinal, they dismantled the world champions, and they've beaten us two out of three this year.'' Not that DiCicco will be running off to Vegas to put money on his rivals. But he wouldn't mind shifting the weight in their direction. ''Let them have the pressure,'' he figures.
Is MacMillan in?
DiCicco won't announce his starting lineup until tonight, but he says it won't be much different than what he's gone with all tournament - with one major exception. '' Shannon MacMillan will probably start,'' he says. Whether MacMillan replaces Cindy Parlow up front or plays as a flank midfielder will be the question. MacMillan, who scored the ''golden goal'' that got the US into the 1996 Olympic final, hasn't started since she had a hand in all three goals against North Korea but her performance as ''supersub'' against Germany and Brazil has made her indispensable.
Early indication
An indication that the US is no shoo-in tomorrow came with the selection of the World Cup All-Star team. Chinese outnumbered Americans, 7-5, on the squad chosen by the FIFA Technical Study Group. Members of the US named All-Stars were forward Mia Hamm, midfielder Michelle Akers, goalkeeper Briana Scurry, and defenders Brandi Chastain and Carla Overbeck... Like the Americans, who'll each receive a $12,500 bonus if they win the Cup, the Chinese also will get a five-figure payout. The exact number isn't known, but their coaches say it will be much more than the $10,000 quoted in a Chinese-American newspaper ... The folks back home have been tuning in at all hours (and in great numbers) to watch the Chinese team live on TV. Tomorrow's final will be the true test of partisan loyalty: the match will start at 3:50 a.m., Beijing time ... Face in the crowd (of several hundred) watching the Babes of Summer at the US practice yesterday: actor Karl Malden, who played US coach Herb Brooks in ''Miracle on Ice,'' the made-for-TV movie about the Boys of Winter, the US hockey team that beat the Soviets at Lake Placid.
