By Scott French, Senior Editor in Carson, Calif.
A superb Shannon Boxx header and a fine finish by Tiffeny Milbrett nailed down bronze medals for the United States, which had little trouble triumphing in Saturday's third-place game once Canada's young forwards ran out of steam in the second half.
Boxx netted her fourth goal in seven international appearances and Milbrett scored her 99th, both from feeds by Mia Hamm, as the Americans bounced back from a semifinal loss to Germany with a 3-1 victory before 25,253 at the Home Depot Center.
Kristine Lilly scored a magnificent opener, and Briana Scurry made a superb save on Kara Lang as the U.S. women dominated proceedings most of the way, owning the match after halftime.
Canada's frontline trio — Lang, Christine Latham and Christine Sinclair — caused havoc for the U.S. defenders in the first half, but they ran out of gas after halftime.
Lang, only 16, was the critical player in the first half, physically dominating Catherine Reddick while getting off seven shots, including a blast from the right that Scurry parried over the crossbar in the 19th minute to keep the score level.
Lilly, playing her best match since the Cup opener, gave the Americans an advantage three minutes later after Charmaine Hooper beat Abby Wambach to a cross from Hamm just inside the box. Hooper got a piece of the ball as she fell, and Lilly's first-time left-footer trailed just inside the left post, a goal as spectacular as her opener against Sweden in the first game.
Lang and Latham, the WUSA Rookie of the Year were both fierce competitors, troubling the American defense throughout the first half, but they couldn't match the effort in the second half, and the Americans quickly took charge.
Latham beat San Diego Spirit teammate Joy Fawcett to deliver the throughball to Christine Sinclair for Canada's 38th-minute equalizer.
Hamm was the Americans' creative force, primarily with crosses from the flank, and Wambach battled hard inside, often getting the worst of the fight with Hooper, who was again outstanding in the back.
Boxx broke the tie in the 51st minute, getting over defender Sasha Andrews to powerfully head home Hamm's far-post corner kick, and the U.S. women spent most of the rest of the match finding roads to the Canadian box.
Milbrett, who was poor most of the World Cup, showed signs of her old magic after coming on for Cindy Parlow just before halftime. Parlow was hurt early in the match after barreling into Wambach and Canadian defender Brittany Timko, then took a ball to the head moments later from a clearance by goalkeeper Taryn Swiatek. She was diagnosed with a concussion after leaving the field in the 43rd minute.
Milbrett hit the left post from a sweet Lilly feed — off an uncharacteristically superb ball from Kate Sobrero — in the 73rd minute, then delivered the killing blow seven minutes later, a superb finish after her poor cross was bounced back onto her path.
The third-place finish matched the United States' placement at the 1995 World Cup. Canada, which finished 12th at the championships four years ago, completed an impressive tournament despite losing more than a half-dozen players to injury just prior to and during the World Cup.