Barring a massive youth movement, the World Cup is not the end for Mia Hamm and the other 30-somethings who make up the core of U.S. women's soccer roster.

There could still be a triumphant finale next year in Athens.

"With the Olympics just 10 months away, if you believe that we need to get rid of some of these older players, clean house and go younger, then I think it's a mistake," U.S. coach April Heinrichs said Tuesday. "It's really a mistake."

The Americans went through a spirited workout at the Nike World Campus on Tuesday, singing "Happy Birthday" to 29-year-old Shannon MacMillan, then taking turns kicking soccer balls at her as she bent over in front of the net.

The team will leave Wednesday to prepare for its third-place World Cup match against Canada on Saturday in Carson, Calif.

"Right now we have a very recent goal of beating Canada and leaving this World Cup with our heads held as high as we can hold them," Abby Wambach said. "There's a lot of pride in still being in the World Cup right now, and there's a lot of pride going into the next 10 months of our preparation for the Olympics."

Hamm would have nothing to do with any Olympic talk, not with Canada to play.

"I don't want to assume that I'm part of anything next year," she said. "I can't control that right now. All I can do is focus on our task at hand and that's the consolation game on Saturday against Canada. I mean, that's going to take our full concentration."

Hamm had an ice pack on one knee. When asked if she was all right, she nodded yes, then added, "Haven't you read? We're old."

She was not smiling.

The idea that this is a team with too many players past their prime does not sit well in the aftermath of Sunday's 3-0 semifinal loss to Germany that ended any chance of repeating as World Cup champion.

"Some people say that we have old-timers on this team," said the 23-year-old Wambach, one of the brightest young stars in international soccer. "But if you ask anybody in this organization, in the federation, there's no way that we even put them in an old-timer sentence. Just because you're a veteran, doesn't mean you're an old-timer and that you don't have the stuff."

Hamm is 32 and has said she will retire after Athens. Brandi Chastain is 35 and is recovering from a broken foot. She wants a shot at the Olympic team, too. Jody Fawcett is 35. Briana Scurry, Julie Foudy and Kristine Lilly all are 32. They all want to go for another Olympic gold.

"For some of them it's going to be their last go-round for an international event," Wambach said. "I think that's going to be all the more motivation."

Wambach makes no secret she expects her older teammates to be around for a big finish next year.

"It's a perfect mix of veterans and youth," she said. "You need to have that balance beam kind of equaling itself out to make sure that the vehicle can run."

The United States won the Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996, then lost the gold medal match in overtime to Norway in Sydney four years later.

Formation of the Athens team begins soon. The qualifying tournament will be held in Costa Rica in February. Heinrichs insists she isn't thinking about the Olympics yet, not with Canada still to play.

But she left little doubt that she feels the best possible U.S. team would include older players.

"I don't think the idea is to keep people together just for the sake of keeping people together," Heinrichs said. "The idea is that we have the core of a team that we felt was capable of winning a World Cup. These 20 players we feel are the 20 best players in America right now, and how much is going to change between now and 10 months from now?"

Still, Hamm refuses to say that a berth is automatic.

"I think that's one of the great things about this team is they always feel they always have another level to achieve," she said. "Players don't take being on this team for granted. It's a privilege to put on this uniform."

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