By Scott French, Senior Editor in Carson, Calif.

Still smarting from their semifinal loss to Germany, the U.S. women face a can't-lose clash with their closest rival on Saturday, taking on surprising Canada in the Women's World Cup's third-place match at the Home Depot Center.

The Americans are 25-3-3 against Canada in a series that dates to 1986, but they have won only twice in the past eight meetings, the most recent a 6-1 romp nearly six months ago against a Canadian squad missing nearly all of its best players.

In the two clashes prior to that one, the U.S. women prevailed, 1-0, in overtime in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final last November and settled for a 1-1 draw at the Algarve Cup in Portugal last March.

''It's such a great rivalry that's been developing over the last four years,'' said U.S. captain Julie Foudy. ''I love that we're playing them in a very important game. It's great for CONCACAF.''

The Canadians, who have gone from doormat to burgeoning world power since Norwegian coach Even Pellerud took over following the 1999 World Cup, squandered a second-half lead to Sweden in the semifinals, an advantage built on 16-year-old Kara Lang's free kick. Canada reached the final four despite a rash of injuries that decimated its backline, forcing Pellerud to move star striker Charmaine Hooper to central defense, where she has been outstanding.

Former WUSA forward Silvana Burtini, forced to the backline after Isabelle Morneau was hurt in a quarterfinal upset of China, left the match with Sweden with a torn meniscus. Carolina Courage rookie Breanna Boyd and University of Notre Dame All-American Candace Chapman, both defenders, were lost to injury before the tournament began. Morneau is listed as doubtful.

''It's been an unbelievable journey for us,'' Hooper said after the semifinal. ''Who knows how far we would have gone if we had all of our players?''

Forward Abby Wambach, the most influential U.S. player in this tournament, said Thursday she was not relishing matching up with Hooper.

''It'll be interesting to see Mia Hamm going up against Charmaine Hooper,'' she said, ''because I don't want to see myself going up against her. It's going to be a nightmare.''

The United States finished third in the 1995 World Cup, beating China, 2-0, after falling to Norway in the semifinals. The Norwegians, coached by Pellerud, went on to win the title.

''What makes great teams is when you do have a sense of failure, when you do lose a game, it's how quickly you can return to become No. 1 again,'' Wambach said. ''That's our mission. Losing to Canada is not an option for us — it is not. We don't want to feel like we are not the best, because we believe in our hearts that we are.''

USA vs. CANADA (Oct. 11 at Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif.)

Women's World Cup third-place game
Kickoff: 12:30 p.m. PT.
TV: ESPN2, TeleFutura (live). Referee: Tammy Ogston (Australia)

Projected Starting Lineups:
USA — Scurry, Pearce, Fawcett, Reddick, Sobrero, Foudy, Boxx, Lilly, Parlow, Wambach, Hamm.
Canada — Swiatek, Dennis, Nonen, Hooper, Timko, Lang, Matheson, Neil, Kiss, Sinclair, Latham.

USA
1 SCURRY Briana, 2 BIVENS Kylie, 3 PEARCE Christie, 4 REDDICK Cat, 5 ROBERTS Tiffany, 6 CHASTAIN Brandi (injured), 7 BOXX Shannon, 8 MAC MILLAN Shannon, 9 HAMM Mia, 10 WAGNER Aly, 11 FOUDY Julie, 12 PARLOW Cindy, 13 LILLY Kristine, 14 FAWCETT Joy, 15 SOBRERO Kate, 16 MILBRETT Tiffeny, 17 SLATON Danielle, 18 MULLINIX Siri, 19 HUCLES Angela (injured), 20 WAMBACH Abby.

CANADA
1 LE BLANC Karina, 2 LATHAM Christine, 3 CONSOLANTE Linda, 4 ANDREWS Sasha, 5 NEIL Andrea, 6 NONEN Sharolta, 7 MORNEAU Isabelle (injured), 8 KISS Kristina, 9 WILKINSON Rhian, 10 HOOPER Charmaine, 11 HERMUS Randee (injured), 12 SINCLAIR Christine, 13 MATHESON Diana, 14 MOSCATO Carmelina, 15 LANG Kara, 16 TIMKO Brittany, 17 BURTINI Silvana, 18 DENNIS Tanya, 19 MC LEOD Erin, 20 SWIATEK Taryn.