U.S. kickers face Brazil for gold

IRAKLION, Greece — Minutes after missing a wide open net, Heather O'Reilly scored in the ninth minute of overtime to give the United States a 2-1 victory over World Cup champion Germany and a place in Thursday's gold-medal game.

The Americans will face Brazil for the gold. Brazil defeated Sweden 1-0 in Patras in the other semifinal on a goal from Pretinha in the 64th minute. Germany will play Sweden for the bronze.

Mia Hamm set up the goal with a short cross from the right, pushing back the pass toward a cluster of three players about 6 yards from the net. O'Reilly, the only teenager on the team of U.S. veterans, got her foot on the ball, pushing a shot to the left of goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg.

The win gives the Fab Five — long-standing U.S. stars Hamm, Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett, Brandi Chastain and Kristine Lilly — a chance to go out as champions in their final tournament together.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Misty May and Kerri Walsh beat fellow Americans and friendly rivals Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs 21-18, 21-15 in the semifinals.

The No. 1 Americans will play for the gold Tuesday against second-seeded Brazilians Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar, who defeated Australians Natalie Cook and Nicole Sanderson 21-17, 21-16.

In men's action, Spaniards Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera ousted Australians Julien Prosser and Mark Williams 21-18, 21-18. Spain will face top-ranked Brazilians Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos, who outlasted fifth-seeded Swiss pair Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel 21-14, 19-21, 15-12 in the other semifinal.

DIVING

Alexandre Despatie led the Olympic 3-meter springboard preliminaries, keeping the powerful Chinese out of their customary top spot. Despatie, the first Canadian to win a world title on the 10-meter platform last year, was first with 517.59 points. Peng Bo of China was second with 495.45. Russia's Alexander Dobroskok was third with 489.75; Japan's Ken Terauchi was fourth with 456.15.

EQUESTRIAN

Debbie McDonald of Hailey, Idaho, moved into contention for an individual dressage medal with an energetic, fault-free round on Brentina that scored 74.840 percent. She moved to fourth overall, with a two-day average of 74.067 percent. The United States hasn't won a medal in individual dressage since 1932.

SAILING

American sailors John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree held onto their lead in the Tornado catamaran class and, Paul Cayard jumped up three spots in the Star class on another bizarre afternoon on the Saronic Gulf. A northerly Meltemi — the wind that whips through the hills around Athens — was predicted to bring at least 13 knots of breeze onto the gulf, but it never developed.