BY SCOTT FRENCH IN CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA A timely second-half volley by Mia Hamm on Sunday lifted the U.S. women’s team to the Olympic gold-medal match for the second time, delivering a 1-0 triumph over Brazil in an ugly semifinal at Bruce Stadium. Hamm, to the left of the goal, finished a sequence from a Brandi Chastain free kick in the 60th minute, and the U.S. defense limited an aggressive and skillful Brazilian side to very few decent chances. The Americans created only one strong opportunity, but Hamm finished it expertly to send the them to Thursday’s title game against Norway — a rematch of the 1991 Women’s World Cup final — at the Sydney Football Stadium. Brazil, utilizing probing balls from Sissi and superb play by Daniela in midfield, dictated play most of the game but found the U.S. defense — especially central defenders Joy Fawcett and Kate Sobrero — difficult to beat. Referee Nicole Petignat, who struggled to keep control of a physical encounter, issued eight yellow cards and whistled the teams for 41 fouls, 23 against the Yanks. Three of Brazil’s four yellow cards followed fouls against Hamm. The last, after Formiga took down the U.S. forward from behind, led to the U.S. goal, and the Americans played out time with a cynical but effective approach — holding the ball in the corners in the final minutes — as a disappointing crowd of 11,200, which included Michelle Akers, FIFA President Sepp Blatter and French great Michel Platini (a soccer official for the Olympics) turned on them. The result was greeted by loud boos. It was the second successive match in which the Americans struggled against a gifted and physical opponent. Nigeria repeatedly broached the U.S. defense in the Americans’ 3-1 victory in the final Group F clash on Wednesday. The final will be a rematch of a Group F opener, in which the U.S. squad — gold medalists in Atlanta four years ago — played perhaps its finest match ever, romping to a 2-0 victory that should have been far worse. Norway, which won the bronze in 1996, bounced back by beating Nigeria and China, then reached the final with a 1-0 victory Sunday night over Group E winner Germany. Germany and Brazil will play for the bronze before the final on Thursday. Chastain’s free kick, from about 35 yards on the left flank, found Lorrie Fair leaping above Daniela to the right of the penalty spot, nodding the ball toward the left post. Tiffeny Milbrett, trying to jump at the ball, and Brazilian defender Juliana collided with goalkeeper Andreia, who fell into a heap, and the ball bounced wide of the post. Hamm, who scored twice against Brazil in the final Olympic tuneup — a 4-0 U.S. win in San Jose on Sept. 1 — raced in to volley the ball from a tight angle into the net. U.S. coach April Heinrichs called it a “big-time goal … the most important goal of the tournament [for the U.S. team].” She also acknowledged that the U.S. performance wasn’t one of the team’s best. “In the Olympics, in a world-championship tournament, the game is a matter of inches,” she said. “We played within ourselves, kept our heads, and at the end of the day find ourselves advancing to the final, and that feels terrific.” Brazil managed one outstanding chance, by Roseli — who had come on for an injured Katia just before Hamm’s goal — from a Sissi feed in the 70th minute. Sissi split the U.S. defense with a beautiful ball and Roseli raced in 1-on-1 against goalkeeper Siri Mullinix from the right. With the far post open, Roseli instead fired near the near post, and Mullinix parried it past the far post. In the other semifinal: Norway 1 Germany 0: A late own goal by Tina Wunderlich ended the Germans’ golden dreams and sent Norway to the Olympic final. Wunderlich headed a long ball from Hege Riise over goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg’s head, then slumped to the ground in despair as it bounced into the German net. “[Tina] played a very good match except for one mistake,” Germany coach Tina Theune-Meyer said after the semifinal at the Sydney Football Stadium. “One mistake by one player, but the whole team lost the game.” Neither side had finished myriad chances, with a pair by German forward Inka Grings, in the 42nd and 65th minutes, going wide of the target. THE U.S. MEN traveled Sunday to Sydney, where they will face Spain in a semifinal on Tuesday at the Sydney Football Stadium. Cameroon and Chile will meet at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Tuesday’s other semifinal. The bronze-medal match will be played Friday night at Sydney Football Stadium and the title game on Saturday afternoon at the Sydney Olympic Stadium. The Yanks advanced to the semifinals Saturday with a 5-4 penalty-kick victory over Japan after a 2-2 tie in Adelaide. Spain reached the final four with a late victory over Italy. The United States is the only nation to place both its men’s and women’s teams into the medal round. The other nations that competed in the men’s and women’s tournaments were Australia, Brazil and Nigeria. U.S. GAME SUMMARY — SUNDAY, SEPT. 24 AT BRUCE STADIUM, CANBERRA USA 1 Brazil 0. Goal: Hamm 60. USA — Mullinix; Pearce, Fawcett, Sobrero, Chastain; MacMillan (Parlow, 79), Fair, Foudy, Lilly; Hamm, Milbrett. Brazil — Andreia; Simone, Juliana, Tania; Cidinha, Sissi (Raquel, 83), Daniela, Formiga, Maicon; Pretinha, Katia (Roseli, 58). Yellow cards — Simone 31, Fair 44, Katia 47, Juliana 49, Formiga 59, Lilly 63, Milbrett 68, Parlow 91. Referee — Nicole Petignat (Switzerland). Att. — 11,200. Other semifinal result Germany 0 Norway 1. Goal: own goal T. Wunderlich 80. Thursday’s medal games (at Sydney) Gold: USA vs. Norway Bronze: Germany vs. Brazil Tuesday’s men’s semifinals USA vs. Spain at Sydney Chile vs. Cameroon at Melbourne