CARSON Calif., Sept. 21, 2003 -- The WUSA - regardless of whether
it possesses a proverbial ninth life -- has definitely left its legacy.
The league that was born out of phenomenal attendance
figures and television ratings - as well as national pride - in the afterglow
of the 1999 Women’s World Cup fulfilled its objective in its three years
of operation by setting the stage for a new group of heroines.
Just ask Australian forward Kelly Golebiowksi,
who helped spur the Washington Freedom to its Founders Cup III championships
season, capped by a 2-1 overtime victory against regular season champion
Atlanta Aug. 24 in San Diego.
Golebiowski, who started 11 of 17 games for the
Freedom during the 2003 season with two goals and three assists, scored the
opening goal of Australia’s Group D opening match against Russia and
nearly put her team up 2-0 in a contest that was finally decided 2-1 in the
Russians’ favor in the 89th minute of play.
Australia nearly shocks
Russia
Australia 1, Russia 2
Golebiowski - along with three other players with WUSA
ties - was a huge reason the underdog Australians (ranked 15th in the world)
were not only in the match against favored Russia (ranked 11th in the world)
but controlled the majority of it and could easily have come away with a
draw, if not an outright victory.
Australian national team players who honed their
skills in the WUSA besides Golebiowski include midfielder Joanne Peters (New
York Power) and defenders Diane Alagich (San Jose CyberRays) and Cheryl Salisbury
(New York Power).
All four drew starting assignments in the match
against Russia.
Alagich had the dubious distinction of being charged
with an own goal against the Russians that tied the match.
Fame apparently comes in many forms.
The first half clearly belonged to Australia -
a darkhorse candidate to win Group D and advance to the quarterfinals.
Golebiowski, who owns the distinction of being the youngest player to suit
up for Australia in international competition at age 14 during a pre-1996
Olympics match against the USA, scored in the 38th minute to give her team
a 1-0 edge and had a golden opportunity to score a second time to help the
Australians regain that early lead after the Russians received their
opportunistic game-tying marker.
The former Washington player, who was acquired
as an international discovery player in 2003 after leading the W-League Hampton
Roads Piranhas in scoring in 2000 and 2001, showed her reserve in a pressure
situation by calmly following up a shot by teammate Danielle Small that caromed
off the goalpost. Golebiowski and her teammates promptly celebrated to the
left of Russian goalkeeper Alla Volkova. Rhian Davies had set up the play
on an initial through ball to Small.
Australia’s failure to double its lead -
Golebiowski hit an open net shot over the crossbar at the opposite side of
the goal box just before the interval - proved costly against a Russian team
that gained confidence in the second half of play.
Alagich deflected a long-range shot by Russia’s
Marina Burakova in the 39th minute that bent past Australian goalkeeper Cassandra
Kell. With both teams trading good scoring chances in the second half, it
looked like the lower-ranked Australians might pull off the first upset of
the 2003 tournament - especially after the Russians missed a penalty kick
in the 70th minute to keep the score knotted at a goal apiece.
On the spot kick, Elena Fomina hit the crossbar.
Fate had other designs, however, for Formina,
who drove the ball into a narrow gap between Kell and the near post for the
game-winning goal. The Australian ’keeper had tipped two rising shots
over the crossbar earlier in the contest.
For the match, Australia was credited with 55
percent of ball possession and was barely outshot 9-7 by the favored Russians.
The attendance at The Home Depot Center was announced
at 8,500, though the noise level generated in the game could easily have
been made by twice that number.
China ready to rumble
China 1, Ghana 0
Backed by a vocal pro-Chinese crowd, fourth-ranked
China dominated its match against the 53rd-ranked Ghanans, whose athletic
ability otherwise made it difficult for the heavily favored Chinese to translate
their territorial domination on the scoreboard.
Goalkeeper Memunatu Sulemana made two spectacular
saves to keep the Black Queens engaged in a scoreless standoff - employing
a flying body block to deny China’s Liu Ying on a point-blank shot in
the 17th minute - before finally misjudging a cross in the 29th minute that
gave the Chinese a 1-0 halftime edge.
Sulemana came off her line but missed the dropping
cross by Bai Jie that teammate Sun Wen promptly knocked into the open net.
Wen had 105 goals in 148 international games entering the contest.
Bai nearly made it 2-0 China in the 59th minute
when she slid a shot just past the open corner to Sulemana’s right after
splitting a pair of Ghana defenders. Sulemana bravely came off her line in
the 63rd minute to snuff a breakaway by Bai and produced another heroic body
block to thwart another solo run by Bai in the 75th minute after a takeaway
in the Black Queens’ defensive zone.
The Chinese roster featured a pair of former WUSA
San Diego Spirit players: defender Fan Yunjie and midfielder Zhang Ouying.
China recorded a Women’s World Cup first
by recording its fourth consecutive shutout in its opening match. The previous
record of three consecutive shutouts had been held by several teams.
The attendance for the China-Ghana match was announced
at 10,027.
