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US takes third in World Cup ahead of championship

Women's World Cup finalists Sweden and Germany each prepared for today's tournament-ending match with an early morning practice just outside the Home Depot Center.

The final is scheduled to be played Sunday at 10am local time, so both teams have been getting ready for the early wake-up call with morning practices.

On Saturday, the US claimed third place by beating Canada 3-1.

Both Germany and Sweden are injury-free and confident. The last time they met with so much on the line was in the 2001 European Championship final. Germany won that 1-0 in extra time.

"I feel that we have been waiting for this match for a long time -- several years," Sweden coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors said Saturday. "Now we are prepared."

Germany leads the head-to-head series 6-0-5, but Sweden won the last match they played against each other in March 2002 at the Algarve Cup.

"We have to play at our best to beat Germany," added Domanski-Lyfors, whose team has had a week off since the semifinals. "I think it was quite good for us because we needed some days off."

The off-time worked out well for Sweden captain Malin Andersson, who came down with a cold during the week.

"I'm perfectly fine now," said Andersson, who would probably play sick if she had to.

"All of us want the gold medal," she said. "We all know that we lost the last final [Euro 2001] and we all know what that was like. We all have to learn from that experience and win this time around."

Germany, which also had a week to rest, relies on its stamina on the field.
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