Milbrett, Parlow pace U.S. romp over Norway

Tiffeny Milbrett fed Cindy Parlow for a pair of headed goals and scored a goal of her own as the U.S. women's national team blitzed a young Norway squad, 4-0, Sunday afternoon in hot, humid conditions at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn. Parlow nodded home Milbrett crosses in the 11th and 30th minutes, and Milbrett took advantage of an error by Norwegian goalkeeper Astrid Johannessen in the 19th as the Americans ended a four-game losing streak against their archrivals. Mia Hamm, returning to the national team for the first time since last September, blasted a rebound into the ceiling of the net in the 90th minute for the fourth goal. U.S. coach April Heinrichs answered Norway's oft-dominant five-woman midfield with a 4-4-2 alignment, stationing Parlow behind frontrunners Milbrett and Abby Wambach. The midfield, theoretically a tight diamond with four central midfielders, featured Tiffany Roberts, playing her first U.S. match since October 1999. Brandi Chastain, normally an attacking left back, was stationed next to Joy Fawcett in central defense. The Americans fed off their counterattack, with Milbrett and Aly Wagner the primary creators. Norway provided few challenges to the U.S. defense and goalkeepers LaKeysia Beene and Briana Scurry. An Anita Rapp header in the first half and an Ingrid Fosse Saethre volley early in the second, the first wide and the second snagged by Scurry, were Norway's best opportunities. The United States' second-half performance wasn't as crisp as in the first half, the product of so many substitutions, the difficult, 93-degree conditions and a 3-0 lead that Norway seemed willing to accept. The first two U.S. goals were products of counters. On the first, Parlow slipped behind Norway's back line to head in a chip from Milbrett, who had cut above the box from the left. Seven minutes later Wagner sent a ball from deep in U.S. territory over the Norwegian defense for Milbrett. Johannessen raced out to clear the ball but ran by it without making contact just outside the box, leaving Milbrett an open net. Parlow scored the third after running into a seam opened by Wambach and Wagner runs to finish Milbrett's cross from the left. Heinrichs gave all 18 players on her roster at least 30 minutes. Scurry, who grew up near Blaine, played the second half, her first U.S. appearance since August 2000 and only her sixth since Heinrichs took charge in January 2000. Hamm, who was sidelined by a knee injury during the Americans' spring schedule, also came on at halftime. She rocketed a rebound from close range after Angela Hucles' header from a Wagner corner kick was cleared off the goal line by Gunhild Folstad. The goal was the 130th of Hamm's international career. ''We had two days of training time, and we went with a totally new system,'' Heinrichs said. ''We're real proud of the players, and they played smart soccer. We tried to get all the players the greatest opportunity for playing time, and you saw a lot of players did well today. You saw a lot of players that are competing for playing time with us.'' Norway used four WUSA players, starting Carolina's Hege Riise at holding midfielder and Carolina's Unni Lehn and New York's Anita Rapp as attacking midfielders. New York's Linda Ormen came on in the 83rd minutes. U.S. midfielder Kristine Lilly and Norway forward Dagny Mellgren were unavailable after Boston turned down requests for their services so the pair would be available for Saturday night's WUSA game in Atlanta. The Breakers lost the match, 3-1, with Lilly scoring their goal. Norway coach Age Steen brought a largely inexperienced squad to North America for a midweek match against Canada and two encounters with the United States, a closed-door scrimmage on Friday and Sunday's loss. Four Norwegians seeing action had fewer than five caps; defender Gunhild Folstad made her international debut. Norway rallied for a 2-2 tie with Canada on Wednesday in Toronto, with Trine Ronning's header in the 88th minute the decisive goal. Mellgren — cleared to play in the first match — made it 1-1 just before halftime from a sequence featuring Riise and Rapp. Defender Brit Sandaune, who also played the full 90 against the United States, earned her 100th cap against Canada. Andrea Neil tallied in the first half and Atlanta's Charmaine Hooper in the second to give the Canadians leads. Canada's lineup featured Atlanta defender Sharolta Nonen, retired Carolina forward Silvana Burtini and five current U.S. collegians: goalkeeper Candace Chapman (Notre Dame), Breanna Boyd (Nebraska), Erin McLeod (SMU), Carmelina Moscato (Penn State) and Christine Sinclair (Portland). Clare Rustad (Washington) came on in the second half. SUNDAY'S SUMMARY July 21 at Blaine, Minn. United States 4 Norway 0. Goals: Parlow 11, 20, Milbrett 17, Hamm 90. United States — Beene (Scurry, 46); Sobrero (Benson, 61), Fawcett, Chastain, Reddick; Roberts (Fair, 46), Foudy (Hucles, 57), Wagner, Parlow (Kluegel, 61); Wambach (MacMillan, 37), Milbrett (Hamm, 46). Norway — Johannessen; Sandaune, Tonnessen, Stangeland, Berg Hansen (Kvitland, 83); Riise, Rand Edner (Knudsen, 46), Fosse Saethre (Blystad Bjerke, 57), Lehn, Rapp (Folstad, 79); Ronning (Ormen, 70). Yellow cards: None. Referee: Kari Seitz (U.S.). Att.: 8,357.