The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 79

2003:09:28:22:58:13 D14 LOSANGELESTIMES Soccer Led by the undefeated teams from the U.S. and Germany, most of the favorites advanced to this week's quarterfinal matches. Los Angeles Times World Cup Brazil Sweden Germany Russia United States Norway China Canada The third-place game: Oct. 11, 12:30 p.m., Carson (All Times Pacific) Thursday, 4:30 p.m., Portland, Ore. Wednesday, 1:30 p.m., Foxboro, Mass.

Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Portland, Ore. Wednesday, 4:30 p.m., Foxboro, Mass. Oct. 5, 4:30 p.m., Portland, Ore. Oct.

5, 7:30 p.m., Portland, Ore. Oct. 12, 10 a.m., Carson ChampionshipSemifinalQuarterfinal GROUP A TeamWLTGFGAPts x-United States3001119 x-Sweden210536 North Korea120343 Nigeria0300110 Sept. 20 North Korea 3, Nigeria 0 Sept. 21 U.S.

3, Sweden 1 Sept. 25 U.S. 5, Nigeria 0 Sweden 1, North Korea 0 Sunday Sweden 3, Nigeria 0 U.S. 3, North Korea 0 GROUP TeamWLTGFGAPts x-Brazil201827 x-Norway2101056 France111234 South Korea0301110 Sept. 20 Norway 2, France 0 Sept.

21 Brazil 3, South Korea 0 Sept. 24 Brazil 4, Norway 1 France 1, South Korea 0 Saturday Norway 7, South Korea 1 Brazil 1, France 1 x-advanced to quarterfinals GROUP TeamWLTGFGAPts x-Germany3001329 x-Canada210756 Japan120763 Argentina0301150 Sept. 20 Germany 4, Canada 1 Japan 6, Argentina 0 Sept. 24 Germany 3, Japan 0 Canada 3, Argentina 0 Saturday Canada 3, Japan 1 Germany 6, Argentina 1 GROUP TeamWLTGFGAPts x-China201317 x-Russia210526 Ghana120243 Australia021151 Sept. 21 Russia 2, Australia 1 China 1, Ghana 0 Sept.

25 Russia 3, Ghana 0 Australia 1, China 1 Sunday Ghana 2, Australia 1 China 1, Russia 0 x-advanced to quarterfinals STANDINGS At Columbus, Ohio SWEDEN 3, NIGERIA 0 First Second Sweden, Ljungberg 1, 56th minute. 2, Sweden, Ljungberg 2, 79th. 3, Sweden, Mostroem 1, 81st. Yellow Red Denoncourt, Canada. Robinson, Canada; Lynda Bramble, Trinidad.

Lineups Joensson; Karolina Westberg, Hanna Marklund, Kristin Bengtsson (Sjoestroem 46th), Sara Larsson, Frida Oestberg, Sara Call; Malin Mostroem, Malin Andersson (Sjoegran 67th); Hanna Ljungberg, Victoria Svensson (Oeqvist 86th). Dede; Kikelomo Ajayi, Ifeanyichukwu Chiejine, Florence Iweta (Ebi 84th), Florence Omagbemi; Perpetua Nkwocha, Stella Mbachu, Nkiru Okosieme (Ekpo 66th), Maureen Mmadu; Patience Avre (Yusuf 89th), Mercy Akide. UNITED STATES 3, NORTH KOREA 0 North 0 United 3 First 1, U.S., Abby Wambach 2, 17th minute. Second U.S., Cat Reddick 1, 48th minute. 3, U.S., Cat Reddick 2, 66th minute.

Yellow Ran North Korea, 16th minute; Abby Wambach, United States, 22nd minute; Tiffeny Milbrett, United States, 40th minute; Kyong Sun Pak, North Korea, 90th minute. Red Tortura, Brazil. Mary Nunes Ribeiro, Brazil; Marlei Silva, Brazil. Lineups NORTH Hui Ri; In Sil Yun, Kum Ok Sin (Jon 27th), Mi Ae Ra, Ok Gyong Jang; Yong Hui Yun (Pak 74th), Kum Ran (Song 53rd), Un Gyong Ri, Hyang Ok Ri; Kum Suk Ri, Pyol Hui Jin. UNITED Scurry; Kylie Bivens, Christie Pearce, Cat Reddick, Joy Fawcett, Kate Sobrero (Slaton 73rd); Tiffany Roberts, Aly Wagner, Kristine Lilly (Foudy 46th); Tiffeny Milbrett, Abby Wambach (MacMillan 56th).

At Portland, Ore. GHANA 2, AUSTRALIA 1 1 2 First Ghana, Sackey 1, 34th minute. 2, Ghana, Sackey 2, 39th. Second Australia, Garriock 2, 61st. Yellow Australia, 52nd minute; Ankrah, Ghana, 59th.

Red Agboyi, Toga. Desiree Krebe, Ivory Coast; Florence Biagui, Senegal. Lineups Barbieri, Dianne Alagich, Cheryl Salisbury, Rhian Davies, Karla Reuter (Pamela Grant, 90th), Gill Foster (April Mann, 43rd), Joanne Peters, Heather Garriock, Tal Karp (Bryony Duus, 33rd), Kelly Golebiowski, Danielle Small. Sulemana, Lydia Ankrah, Elizabeth Baidu, Patience Sackey, Mavis Danso (Yaa Avoe, 75th), Genevive Clottey, Florence Okoe, Alberta Sackey, Adjoa Bayor, Gloria Foriwa (Myralyn Osei Agyemang, 67th; Akua Anokyewaa, 91st), Mavis Dgajmah. CHINA 1, RUSSIA 0 First China, Bai Jie 2, 16th minute.

Second Yellow Red Romano. Assistant Lois, Alejandra Cercato. 4th Seitz. Lineups Wenxia, Li Jie, Fan Yunjie, Wang Liping, Liu Yali, Pu Wei, Liu Ying, Zhao Lihong (Ren Liping, 62nd), Sun Wen, Bai Jie, Bi Yan (Qu Feifei, 54th). Volkova, Vera Strukova, Marina Saenko, Marina Burakova, Tatiana Zaytseva, Galina Komarova, Tatiana Egorova, Alexandra Svetlitskaya, Elena Fomina, Natalia Barbachina, Olga Letyushova (Tatiana Skotnikova, 66th).

SUMMARIES Joe Franchino scored on a direct kick in the second overtime to give the New England Revolution a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Crew on Sunday night in a Major League Soccer game at Foxboro, Mass. New England (8-9-9) rallied from a two-goal deficit to Columbus (8-11-7) by scoring twice within three minutes late in regulation. Joe-Max Moore, starting his first match since spraining his knee in early August, scored on adirect kick in the 78th minute. Then Moore took a corner kick that rookie midfielder Shalrie Joseph headed into the goal in the 81st minute. The victory moved the Revolution into the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Crew.

New Jersey 1, Washington 1 Mike Magee scored in second-half injury time to lift the visiting Metro- Stars into a tie at Washington with D.C. United, which lost U.S. national team midfielder Ben Olsen to a left knee injury. Olsen is expected to sit out at least six weeks. Magee directed in Mark free kick to keep the Met- roStars in second place, one point ahead of United in the Eastern Conference.

From Associated Press MLS ROUNDUP Franchino Lifts Revolution, 3-2 By Lisa Dillman Times Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore The first domino tumbled over with very little trouble, with the slightest of pushes. You might say everything was so soeasy for China on a balmy Sunday night. First, China advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup without having to do any of the heavy lifting, moving on without taking a single shot or even stepping on the field. Ghana did the hard work, eliminating Australia from contention, winning 2-1, and creating its own bit of history with its first World Cup victory. The next domino to go was Russia, which had taken a stunning lead in Group play after winning its first two games.

China took control of its destiny early with striker Bai composed goal off an excellent through ball in the 16th minute on its way to a 1-0 victory against Russia before 19,132. Perhaps one of the few things not to go way was a missed penalty kick in the 21st minute. Sun Wen was pulled down in the boxbut did not take the kick. Midfielder Liu Ying pushed the penalty kick just wide of the left post. Still, there seemed to be winners in almost every corner of PGE Park.

Well, at least for those not holding a plastic kangaroo. Australia Coach Adrian Santrac lamented the lost opportunities for his winless team, using several variations of the word His lone goal came in the 61st minute with Ghana leading 2-0. But back to the winners. China? The 1999 World Cup runner- ups avoided a potentially difficult quarterfinal test against Germany here Thursday, and will instead face Canada, which finished second in Group C. Russia? It showed that its quarterfinal finish in 1999 was no fluke.

Russia will play Germany in the other quarterfinal here. And although the quarterfinals present an entirely different challenge for Russia, the Germans are considerably banged-up, receiving the damaging news that Steffi Jones, the veteran defender, will sit out the rest of the tournament, requiring surgery back home to repair a torn ligament in her right knee. Ghana and star striker Alberta Sackey? Sackey, who was suspiciously benched without an apparent logical reason for the first 57 minutes of loss to Russia, scored twice against Australia and, with any luck, could have had a hat trick. Her first goal was a well- placed strike from long range, about 23 yards out, as the ball dipped just under the crossbar in the 34th minute. Five minutes later, she showed tenacity, converting her own rebound.

There had been a bit of history on the line, as neither Ghana nor Australia had won a game in a World Cup. And local organizers? The atmosphere in Portland was terrific for the Group finales. Ghana had trained in the area for most of its buildup and had a great deal of local support. China, too, had a large contingent of supporters behind one of the goals, and the fans finally saw a spirited performance after two somewhat lethargic showings in Carson. Bai, in particular, created nightmares for defense all evening.

She seemed to have an extra step and only the goal- keeping heroics of Alla Volkova stopped her from a finishing with amultigoal performance. Case in point: Volkova made a pointblank save on Bai in the 77th minute and was congratulated by grateful Russian defender Marina Burakova. GROUP China Advances Easily COLUMBUS, Ohio One of the first questions Marika Domanski Lyfors was asked Sunday afternoon was this: What is history against Brazil? The Swedish answer came swiftly. have any good she said. lost against them in in the World Cup and we lost against them in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

But we are getting closer to a victory when you have lost to them so many times, I That victory could come Wednesday in Foxboro, where Sweden again meets the South American champion, this time in the quarterfinals of the current world championship. The Swedes earned their place in the final eight in emphatic fashion Sunday afternoon, rolling over Nigeria, 3-0, after being held scoreless in the first half thanks to an outstanding performance by Nigerian goalkeeper Precious Dede. Goals by striker Hanna Ljungberg in the 56th and 80th minutes and another by midfielder Malin Mostrom in the 81st finally ended the Niger- stout resistance Nigeria, without a victory in the tournament, played its most spirited 45 minutes of soccer in the first half, contesting every ball, defending in numbers and attacking when the opportunity arose. The unquestioned star for the African champions, however, was Dede, who made a series of stunning saves to keep the favored Swedes at bay. thought Dede was brilliant and she is definitely the future of the game in Nigeria Coach Samuel Okpodu said.

L. Jones Sweden Advances, Meets Brazil Next calculated gamble by Heinrichs, the U.S. coach, but it paid off. Players who needed rest got it, and those who stepped in were able to defeat the Koreans in front of 22,828 at Crew Stadium on a cold and cloudy afternoon. Afirst-half goal on a penalty kick by forward Abby Wambach and two second-half goals by defender CatherineReddick were more than enough to undo the Asian champions, who afterward once again complained about The victory secured first place in Group A for the defending world champion U.S., which advanced to a quarterfinal game against 1995 champion Norway on Wednesday in Foxboro, Mass.

Still, leaving Hamm out entirely came as a shock, particularly to the fans, who began chanting want midway through the second half. Instead, they first got Foudy, as a halftime replacement for Kristine Lilly, then Shannon MacMillan as a 55th-minute replacement for Wambach, and, finally, Danielle Slaton, who made her World Cup debut in the 72nd minute when she came on in place of Kate Sobrero. The surprise starting lineup and subsequent substitutions created a little bit of U.S. soccer history. It was the first World Cup game that Hamm has sat out, ending a 20-match streak dating to 1991.

sure a little Heinrichs said. were chanting her name. Nomar was here tonight, which may be his only opportunity to watch her during the World Cup. So sure a disappointment for her not to get to play. always the first to celebrate this All the same, the decision to rest Hamm, the all-time leading goal scorer, went directly against what Heinrichs had said the day before.

you take Mia Hamm out, you run the risk of turning the faucet she said Saturday. want to be the one that shut the faucet off, for Hamm was in two minds about the decision. at she replied when asked if she was upset, then elaborated. happens on a day like today is you balance between wanting to stay sharp and also understanding that another rest is going to she said. the team was great today.

As soon as we got that sec- ond goal, and definitely the third goal, I knew I coming in, and that was fine with Heinrichs has fielded a different starting lineup in each of the three games, using 18 of the 20 players on the roster. The only two who played are backup goalkeeper Siri Mullinix and injured midfielder Angela Hucles. On Sunday, Tiffany Roberts started in place of Boxx; Aly Wagner took place; Kylie Bivens, from Upland, started instead of Foudy; and Tiffeny Milbrett replaced Hamm. The lineup worked and it took the U.S. only 17 minutesto take the lead, with Wambach slamming a penalty kick past North Korean goalkeeper Ri Jong Hui after Kum Ran had fouled Mil- brett.

Wambach actually had put the ball in the net before the penalty kick, finishing a fine move involving Christie Pearce and Bivens, but the apparent goal was disallowed by Brazilian referee Sueli Tortura because of the foul on Milbrett. never seen anything like that in my Heinrichs said of the negated goal and subse- quent penalty. Trailing at the half, North Korea, which needed a victory to stay in the 16-nation tournament, saw its hopes disappear in the second 45 minutes when Reddick took charge. The University of North Carolina defender, the youngest player on the team, doubled the lead three minutes into the second half. Wagner crossed the ball on a corner kickfrom the right, Foudy jumped to flick it with her head toward the far post, where Reddick bundled it into the net with her hip.

In the 66th minute, Reddick scored again, this time on a powerful header off a cross from MacMillan. guess the attacking mentality of the team just got to Reddick said. Goalkeeper Briana Scurry preserved the shutout with two superb saves late in the game The Americans, able to mix and match players at will, have scored 11 goals in three games heading into the quarterfinals. Finding a way to stop them is aproblem that Norway has until Wednesday to solve. Gina Ferazzi Los Angeles Times SLIDING BY: Tiffeny Milbrett, right, slide tackles North Mi Ae Ra during a 3-0 U.S.

victory. U.S. Finishes First in Group A World Cup, from Page D1 Anacleto Rapping Los Angeles Times JUMPING FOR JOY: Tiffany Roberts jumps into the arms of Abby Wambach after Wambach scored on a first-half penalty kick..