BY SCOTT FRENCH IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA Gao Hong came up big when it counted, diving to stop a Kristine Lilly penalty kick in the 74th minute, and China earned a 1-1 draw with the United States in their Olympic showdown Sunday evening at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A brilliant Sun Wen free kick canceled Julie Foudy’s first-half goal in another classic encounter between the world’s two best women’s soccer teams. The Chinese (1-0-1), runners-up to the Americans (1-0-1) in the 1996 Olympic and 1999 Women’s World Cup finals, treated the tie like a victory, celebrating with the largely pro-Chinese crowd of 32,500 — which included First Daughter Chelsea Clinton — as the dejected U.S. squad walked off the field. It was a tight game with few legitimate chances in which Gao played the key role, denying Lilly and then smothering Cindy Parlow’s rebound as China remained on top in Group F on total goals. The Americans need only a tie in their final group match, Wednesday night against Nigeria in Melbourne, to advance to the semifinals and could advance — with the right set of results — should the African champion pull off an upset. “My feeling is I’m appropriately pleased and displeased at the same time,” said U.S. coach April Heinrichs. “We created enough chances to win that game, and there were wonderful opportunities to score, and we had as good of possession as we’ve had this year against China, and at the same time we made some mistakes. Hopefully, we’ll grow from them, and I think we’ll do a lot of self-evaluating right now, and that’s a healthy thing.” The Americans, 0-1-2 vs. China since the WWC final, got superb performances from defenders Joy Fawcett, Christie Pearce and Kate Sobrero, preventing China from finding clear paths to their net. The Chinese created one clear opportunity from the run of play and provided some danger on Liu Ying’s corner kicks, but it took a bending 32-yard drive by Sun — the Golden Ball winner at last year’s WWC — to beat U.S. goalkeeper Siri Mullinix. China nearly struck first, in the 18th minute, when Pu Wei — retreating from the U.S. box — turned and sent a pass behind Brandi Chastain for Liu Ying on near the right sideline. Liu Ying took it toward the near post, but her shot was blocked by Mullinix and ricocheted off Liu and into the goalmouth. Pearce cleared it from danger. Foudy’s goal came in the 38th minute off a Shannon MacMillan corner kick from the right. Foudy raced in toward the far post from deep within China’s box and rose above four defenders to nod the ball past Gao and into the side-netting inside the far post. Sun, still slowed by a knee injury sustained last spring, scored the tying goal — her third of the tournament — in the 67th minute after Hamm fouled Liu Ailing on the left flank. Sun’s free kick floated over the U.S. wall and curled toward the upper-left corner, but a diving Mullinix could only deflect it onto the underside of the crossbar, and it bounced down into the net. The Americans had a chance to win it five minutes later, when Lilly split two defenders with a pass on the left wing into China’s box, and Tiffeny Milbrett hit it first time toward the goalmouth. The ball struck Fan Yunjie’s outstretched left arm as she slid toward Milbrett, and Swiss referee Nicole Petignat awarded a penalty kick over Chinese objections. Gao guessed correctly on Lilly’s kick, leaping to her right to knock the ball down, then handled Parlow’s rebound. It was Lilly’s second penalty-kick miss this year — she shot poorly against Brazil’s Andreia during a 0-0 tie in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June. Lilly had made her most recent spot kick, converting in a 1-1 tie with Canada on Aug. 20. In the other Group F match, in Canberra, Norway (1-1) bounced back from Thursday’s 2-0 loss to the Americans with a 3-1 victory over Nigeria (0-2), eliminating the Eagles from medal contention. Dagny Mellgren, Hege Riise (with a penalty kick) and Marianne Pettersen scored for the Norwegians, and Mercy Akide — one of four U.S.-based Nigerians — tallied for the Falcons. In the second game in Melbourne, Chile (2-0) took charge in Group B with an impressive 3-1 victory over Spain (1-1). Reinaldo Navia scored his second and third goals of the tournament for the South Americans. South Korea (1-1) edged Morocco (0-2), 1-0, in the other B clash on a Lee Chun-Soo goal. In Group D, South Africa (1-1) pulled off the biggest upset yet in the Games, using goals by Quinton Fortune, Siyabonga Nomvete and Steve Lekoelea to defeat Brazil (1-1), 3-1, in Brisbane. Japan (2-0) grabbed the top spot in the group, holding off Slovakia (0-2), 2-1, with goals by Hidetoshi Nakata and Junichi Inamoto. U.S. GAME SUMMARY — SUNDAY, SEPT. 17 AT MELBOURNE USA 1 China 1. Goals: Foudy 38; Sun 67. USA — Mullinix; Pearce, Fawcett, Sobrero, Chastain (Parlow, 62); MacMillan (Serlenga, 80), Fair, Foudy, Lilly; Hamm, Milbrett. China — Gao; Wang, Fan, Wen, Bai; Y. Liu, A. Liu, Pu, Zhao; Sun, Jin (Zhang, 61). Yellow cards — Hamm 67, Fan 73. Referee — Nicole Petignat (Switzerland). Att. — 32,500. Other Group F score Norway 3 Nigeria 1. Mellgren 22, Riise 62 (pen.), Pettersen 93; Akide 78. Wednesday’s games USA vs. Nigeria at Melbourne Norway vs. China at Canberra SUNDAY’S MEN’S RESULTS Group B Chile 3 Spain 1. Goals: Olarra 24, Navia 41, 90; Lacruz 54. South Korea 1 Morocco 0. Goals: C. Lee 53. Group D Brazil 1 South Africa 3. Goals: Edu 11; Fortune 10, Nomvete 74, Lekoelea 90. Japan 2 Slovakia 1. Goals: Nakata 67, Inamoto 74.