Brazil knocks U.S. out of Women's World Cup 4-0, makes final

HANGZHOU, China — The streak is over, and so is the United States' bid for a third Women's World Cup championship.

Brazil and its star player Marta put on a dazzling performance against the Americans and cruised to a 4-0 victory in the semifinals Thursday, ending the U.S. unbeaten streak at 51 games and sending the Brazilians into their first title match, against Germany on Sunday.

Brazil went ahead on an own-goal in the 20th minute, and Marta made it 2-0 soon after. Cristiane and Marta added goals in the second half, with Marta becoming the tournament's leading scorer with seven goals.

The U.S. played the final 45 minutes with 10 players after midfielder Shannon Boxx was sent off in first-half injury time for a contentious second yellow card.

Goalkeeper Briana Scurry, playing in her 164th game for the U.S., was surprisingly picked ahead of Hope Solo, who started the first four games. Solo gave up two goals in the first match but was unscored on for the following 300 minutes. Scurry, meanwhile, hadn't played a full game in three months.

Though U.S. coach Greg Ryan didn't blame the loss on Scurry, Solo questioned the decision and Scurry's performance.

"It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that," she said. "There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is it's not 2004 anymore. ... It's 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. And you can't live by big names. You can't live in the past. It doesn't matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that's what I think."

The Americans play Norway in Sunday's third-place game.

Bidding for another title to go with championships in 1991 and 1999, the U.S. team was outplayed and outhustled by the Brazilians in its worst defeat in any World Cup match. The semifinal loss was a repeat of the 2003 event, when the Americans were eliminated by Germany.

"We could have come out stronger I think but today was Brazil's day," American striker Abby Wambach said. "I'm heartbroken.

"The first goal was kind of a fluke goal, then Marta comes down on the second goal and then we go down on the red card. Things were not falling for us today."

In the 20th minute, Formiga sent in a corner, which bounced just short of the goal. Attempting to head it behind, midfielder Leslie Osborne headed it into the net between Scurry and Lori Chalupny.