ASADENA, Calif. - The Chinese players did not crouch in disbelief. They did not fall to the ground in agony. They did not hang their heads in sorrow.
There really was no reason to.
Even though 120 minutes of exhilarating, albeit scoreless, soccer in the final match of the Women's World Cup ended yesterday with the United States carting off the golden statue after an agonizingly close 5-4 victory in penalty kicks, the Chinese weren't about to sulk.
Instead, while the US women celebrated their second Cup championship in eight years by scampering delightedly around the Rose Bowl pitch, the Chinese players huddled near midfield. Then they waved to the crowd and clasped their hands high above their heads in a show of solidarity. It was clear to the crowd of 90,185, which included enclaves of red flag-waving, drum-banging Chinese fans, that the losers of this historic game had just as much right to be proud as the winners did.
''Even though the American team won,'' said China coach Ma Yuanan, ''I think the Chinese team is the best team in the world.''
Indeed, China probably would be considered No. 1 if United States midfielder Kristine Lilly had not been perfectly positioned to head out Fan Yunjie's sure-fire goal in the 10th minute of the first sudden-death period. ''Certainly, it could have been the Chinese carrying the trophy,'' US coach Tony DiCicco, visibly relieved, said.
But even though the Chinese won't have any championship hardware to bring home, they will have plenty of accomplishments by which to remember their three-week stay in the United States:
It was their best Cup finish. The Chinese women finished fifth as hosts of the inaugural Women's World Cup in 1991 and took fourth in 1995.
Even though Chinese star Sun Wen was shut down yesterday, she still won the Silver Shoe Award as the tournament's second-highest scorer with seven goals. (Brazil's Sissi, who also scored seven goals, won the Gold Shoe by virtue of having more assists.)
With exciting players such as Sun, Zhang Ouying, and Liu Ailing paving the way, the future of Chinese women's soccer has never been brighter. Sun recently spoke of how Chinese girls were discouraged from playing soccer when she was growing up, but with the mass exposure the 1999 Women's World Cup received - even in China, where the championship was broadcast live on national television in the wee hours of the morning - that is bound to change.
After the game, President Clinton visited the Chinese locker room to offer congratulations before he went into the US locker room to whoop it up with the victors.
Hopefully he applauded Kate Sobrero, Carla Overbeck, and a host of other US defenders who applied the clamps to Sun, who managed just three shots. In fact, the Americans did a superb job of cutting off all avenues to the goal.
''We were all over them today,'' said US goalkeeper Briana Scurry, who made the winning save by diving to her left and knocking away Liu Ying's penalty kick.
Nonetheless, China, which entered the game averaging 3.4 goals, did have several opportunities. In the 35th minute, Sun watched in dismay as a direct kick from about 30 yards sailed over the net. Early in the second half, China's Wen Lirong went one-on-one with US defender Cindy Parlow in the penalty box before Parlow managed to clear the ball. And about a minute before Fan's would-be goal was cleared, Sun outmaneuvered several US players for a good look at the goal but misfired.
Meanwhile, Chinese goalkeeper Gao Hong, who made four saves, was busier than that statistic indicated. She corralled every loose ball and knocked away every serious threat in regulation and the two sudden-death periods but could not come up with the big save during penalty kicks.
Afterward, Ma said he had sensed the outcome before Brandi Chastain's winning penalty kick. ''We were prepared for this,'' he said. ''It happened just like I suspected because both teams are the fastest in the world and had great performances. The American team was just more focused than us.
''But I am proud of our team.'' With good reason.
