Jul 14, 2003 5 min read

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A pair of defensive lapses by Brazil gave Tiffeny Milbrett one scoring chance too many. Milbrett’s hard volley in the 90th minute lifted the United States women to a 1-0 victory on Sunday as the Brazilians lost for the first time in four international matches this year.

The goal redeemed a missed opportunity just nine minutes earlier for Milbrett, who put a shot over the crossbar from 12 yards out after Brazilian goalkeeper Andreia had gone down misplaying the ball at the top of the penalty area. That left Milbrett with only a pair of scrambling defenders to beat.

“That was definitely something I would want back, but I knew the defender was coming back and I had to get a low, hard shot and I didn’t get it low enough,” Milbrett said.

When Milbrett found a bouncing ball at her feet in the final minute, she pounded a low shot into the right corner so hard that Andreia didn’t have time to react.

The play started with U.S. goalkeeper Briana Scurry’s long kick into Brazil’s penalty area. Brazil tried to clear it but Abby Wambach headed the ball back into the box.

Forward Mia Hamm was battling for position when the ball bounced off of her and toward Milbrett.

“I just took a step and hit it. It just felt good. You know when you hit it good,” Milbrett said.

The victory improved the U.S. women to 9-1-3 in international play this year with two exhibitions remaining before this fall’s World Cup tournament. The United States, which beat Brazil 1-0 the last time the two met in the 2000 Olympics, is now 15-1-2 all-time against Brazil, which also has qualified for the World Cup.

The United States outshot Brazil 16-10, with many of the U.S. shots coming late in the game. Andreia made eight saves, while Scurry made four.

“Either team could have won today … We learned a lot watching them and learned a lot playing against them,” U.S. coach April Heinrichs said.

After scoring 11 goals over its past two games against England and Ireland, the United States found a ferocious opponent in Brazil, which forced a fast pace with long passes through the midfield and applied physical defensive play that sent numerous players to the ground throughout the so-called “friendly” match.

“I don’t know who called them friendlies. They need to rename them,” U.S. forward Cindy Parlow said.

Hamm went down hard three times in the opening half, once on a full speed collision near midfield, then on an attempted header in which she seemed to take a shot to the head. Later, she went down on a hard slide tackle by Formiga but stayed in the game.

Brazil forward Pretinha, who plays in the WUSA for San Jose, went down after a collision with Kate Sobraro in the 25th minute and had to be carried off the field. Coach Paulo Goncalves said Pretinha was taken to a hospital for X-rays on her right knee.

She was replaced by Cristiane, who missed one of Brazil’s best scoring chances in the second half. She popped a loose ball over the net after Scurry went down to break up a pass through the penalty area.

“We cannot say it was a bad result for us, because the Americans are a very strong team,” said Goncalves, who started five teenagers. “I think the World Cup will be different because we’ll have time to prepare this team.”

Both yellow cards in the game were issued against Brazil after hard collisions near midfield, one to Renata and the other to Marta.

Although the game was low-scoring there was no shortage of scoring chances.

Only six minutes in, Cindy Parlow received a deflected ball behind Brazil’s back line at the edge of the penalty area, but Andreia came charging out and slid down to smother the shot.

Late in the half, Brazilian forward Katia chased down a bouncing ball just to the left of the U.S. net and volleyed a hard shot on goal, but Scurry made a sprawling kick save and the rebound deflected harmlessly to the far sideline.

The match was the last for the U.S. team before Heinrichs trims her roster to 20 players for the World Cup. Brazil is the last World Cup qualifier the American women will play before the tournament starts. The next exhibition for the U.S. team is Sept. 1 against Costa Rica in Los Angeles. The U.S. then plays Mexico on Sept. 7 in San Jose, the last exhibition before the World Cup.

Heinrichs says her primary concern is depth up front because of recent injuries to Shannon MacMillan (right knee) and Heather O’Reilly (left ankle). Heinrichs said it is not clear whether either will be ready for the World Cup.