The Eagles have landed. After cruising through to tomorrow's gold medal match in the relative tranquillity of Melbourne and Canberra, the US women's soccer team arrived in Sydney to a rapturous reception.

Given that these Olympics have been dubbed "the dame games" in the light of the attention focused on such athletes as Cathy Freeman, Marion Jones, Inge de Bruin and pole-vaulter Stacey Dragila, the soccer stars' entrance could not have been more timely.

After winning last year's World Cup on home soil, the US team became overnight cult celebrities and the public fascination with their every move has not ebbed.

"Things have gotten pretty frenzied in the States regarding this team," admitted Julie Proudy at the team's first public engagement.

"There had been predictions that it would wane again after the World Cup; in fact, the interest is stronger than ever. So being in Melbourne for our three games was nice - we'd meet reporters on the street and they'd be like, `wow, this is great, you guys can just walk around, relax'. And it was. I mean, we came to Sydney for the opening ceremony and spent some time in the village, but there were just so many things going there and people grabbing you that it was fairly chaotic."

It is too early to determine whether the US has developed a solid interest in women's soccer or whether the fascination has been fuelled by the personalities behind this team. Together for most of the last decade, the US won gold in Atlanta 1996, but it was only last year that public awareness of their activities sky-rocketed.

Television transformed what many anticipated would be an underground World Cup. Many Americans polled in the summer of 1994 were oblivious to the fact that they were hosting the men's World Cup and those who knew were, more often than not, indifferent. But by the time the home team reached the final in the women's tournament, it was the top sports event across the nation and drew crowd numbers normally associated with a Superbowl.

The moment that elevated the tournament from relative success to global phenomenon actually occurred after the last kick. Having nailed the winning goal from a penalty, Brandi Chastain celebrated by peeling of her shirt and grinned at the cameras in a sports bra.

Although spontaneous, the move was pure PR fantasy. Within a week, Chastain was on the cover of Time, Sports Illustrated and Newsweek. People magazine deemed her one of "The 25 Most Intriguing People for 1999." Women's soccer has never looked back.

The US came to Australia as standard bearers for a sport that has also begun to capture the imagination of the host country and has a huge following in China.

"A lot of us grew up watching sports and there was no women's soccer on TV, none in the Olympics," says Chastain, now 32 and an international since the age of 18.

"So what has happened in the past few years has been incredibly exciting to share in, and the feeling is that it is only starting. I'm definitely not finished with this game. I can't say I will definitely be on the team for the next Olympics, but right now is a very special time and I'm looking forward to further times like this."

In the Olympic final, the Americans face Norway, a team that they beat in the early rounds of the tournament. Norway have a long history, however and many of their players won the 1995 World Cup tournament, after overcoming the US in the semi-finals.

"We watched a video of that game and essentially relived the emotional pain of the loss," says Carla Overbeck, capped for the US 165 times going into the Olympics. This final will be her last.

"I think the remarkable thing about this team is that we made a commitment to ourselves and to the sport to do our best to improve and promote it and have the drive and energy to see it through. I don't know who will stay on or leave after this but I mean, after this is over, I think we will still play together. I can't see a situation arising whereby we don't meet each other."

Despite the fact that television ratings for the Sydney games have slumped in the US, the women's soccer final will be a massive draw. They have already played in front of crowds of up to 65,000 in this tournament and are bonafide stars at home.

With the more senior players nearing the age of retirement, a number of younger players have been brought along for this tournament. With a new US league due to start next Spring and record numbers of youngsters now playing football, the women's game in the US has never been stronger.

But whether this team will come to be regarded as pioneers of a globally burgeoning sport or passing wonders remains unclear.