Chastain redeems reputation

LOS ANGELES, July 11: The United States put the happy ending on the fairytale, beating China 5-4 on penalties to win the women's World Cu...

LOS ANGELES, July 11: The United States put the happy ending on the fairytale, beating China 5-4 on penalties to win the women8217;s World Cup on Saturday after a tense final ended scoreless after extra time.

Brandi Chastain capped a perfect US performance in the shoot-out, slotting her shot past Chinese keeper Gao Hong and sending the crowd of 90,185 at the Rose Bowl into a frenzy. 8220;I felt very calm,8221; Chastain said. 8220;I didn8217;t hear any noise. I didn8217;t get caught up in looking at Gao. Sometimes, she likes to get in a staring match, she likes to smile at you and make you uncomfortable.8221;

When it was done, she said. 8220;I thought My God, this is the greatest moment of my life on a soccer field8217;.8221;

It was the perfect stage for Chastain to redeem herself for a penalty miss against China in the US defeat in the Algarve Cup final earlier this year. She said US coach Tony Di Cicco8217;s faith in her made it easy.

The Chinese had fallen behind in the third round of the shoot-out, when US keeper Briana Scurry stoppedLiu Ying8217;s shot. 8220;I really don8217;t remember what side it was on, I think it was on my left side,8221; said Scurry, who came up from the diving save pumping her fist and waving to the ecstatic crowd.

Carla Overbeck, Joy Fawcett, Kristine Lilly and Mia Hamm also beat Gao. Xie Huilin, Qiu Haiyan, Zhao Lihong and Sun Wen all scored from the spot for China.

Lilly was voted Woman of the Match, thanks to her spectacular save on the goal line of Fan Yunjie8217;s header in the 100th minute 8212; a shot that could have given China the crown. Her team-mates said they would have expected nothing less. 8220;Kristine Lilly did her job, nothing more, nothing less,8221; Chastain said. Brazil won the third-place playoff 5-4 on penalties after playing to a scoreless draw with outgoing champions Norway.