If you're going to have the world cup final next door to the world's movie capital, it is only to be expected that it will follow the script: various twists and turns but a happy ending in the last reel. And, of course, a couple of bankable stars.

So it was on Saturday as the United States won the women's world cup final on penalties against China in front of a 90,000 crowd in the Rose Bowl - a record attendance for a women's sporting event.

The next stage is to see whether the euphoria and excitement that accompanied this good-natured tournament is translated into a long-term higher profile for the women's game both in the United States and throughout the world which watched the match on television in its millions.

Following an uninspiring morning opener in which Brazil beat Norway for third place on penalties, the extravaganza proper began. The Puerto Rican singer and actress Jennifer Lopez sang, rockets fired, United States Air Force planes flew low over the stadium, and thousands of bright-red balloons disappeared into the sky.

Only about 5,000 of the capacity crowd were Chinese fans but their national anthem was listened to politely and the young Chinese woman who sang it in traditional costume was generously applauded. The boy band Hanson sang the American anthem but was drowned out by cheering fans.

In the third minute Mia Hamm, one of Team USA's star players, burst through on goal. The move was stifled. Alas, there was not much more in the way of genuine excitement as the game progressed. Maybe the heat or just a general weariness after a heavy travelling schedule had taken its toll but the game never quite took off.

Michelle Akers, the game's outstanding player until she had to leave the field suffering from concussion and heat exhaustion, tested Gao Hong with a long-range shot early on but both sides could only muster half-a-dozen half-hearted shots between them in the first half.

The Swiss referee Nicole Mouidi Petignat used her yellow card just three times, both sides conserving their energy for searching for that elusive opening.

It did not come. There were some thrills: Kristine Lilly, one of the US's veterans, headed off the line from Fan Yunjie. Sun Wen, the Chinese captain, nearly wove her way through the US defence and both Hamm and the hard-shooting Shannon MacMillan, who came on as a sub, sparkled but this game had extra time engraved on it.

No golden goal arrived in the 30 minutes of sudden death so once again the Rose Bowl, now so sticky it could have been the sugar bowl, witnessed a penalty shoot-out. Uninitiated Pasadenans must wonder just what all the fuss is about.

The US goalkeeper, Briana Scurry, said that she had a feeling she was going to save the penalty taken by Liu Ying and sure enough she did, provoking the loudest cheer of a noisy day. Showdown time.

Brandi Chastain, the extrovert from San Jose, stepped up for the decider and slotted it perfectly with her left foot into the corner of the net. She duly whipped off her shirt and waved it in the air as her team-mates embraced and the crowd celebrated. Cannons fired glittering confetti into the air. America had two new stars.

"Momentary insanity," is how Chastain described her celebration when asked in the press conference afterwards. "This is the greatest moment of my life on the soccer field and I lost control," she smiled.

She and the team coach Tony DiCicco paid tribute to the Chinese for the close game and their contribution to the tournament. Sun Wen said rather ruefully that she felt the US had been fortunate to win but in truth they deserved the victory for having more of the possession and making greater efforts to penetrate.

The US team departed to bask in a grateful nation's approval but if they were hoping for a lie-in digesting the headlines - "Soccer: Thy Name Is Woman" and "The Goal Heard Round the World" were two of the more modest contributions - there were other plans for them. Disneyland had organised a "festive cavalcade down Main Street, USA followed by a special ceremony at Sleeping Beauty's Castle . . . joined by Disney Characters" for early Sunday morning.