ATHENS, Greece - As great as the U.S. softball team has been in winning the sport's first two Olympic gold medals, there's been one problem.

Australia.

While the Americans are 15-4 in Olympic play, two of the losses were to the Aussies. Both were excruciating, too, each coming on game-ending home runs in extra innings.

The women known as Aussie Spirit would love nothing more than doing it again, maybe even in the gold-medal game on Aug. 23, a matchup that many consider very likely.

But why wait until then? Luck of the draw has the rivalry being renewed Sunday in the second game of round-robin play.

The Americans have been tightlipped about the game, realizing anything they say could end up as motivational fodder for the only team with a winning record against them in the Olympics. Instead, they're instead talking about their high hopes and equally high expectations.

"Anything less than winning a gold medal would be a huge disappointment for this team," pitching ace Lisa Fernandez said.

U.S. coach Mike Candrea seems to be carefully plotting for this matchup, or maybe he just enjoys the gamesmanship of the entire Olympic tournament.

He waited until Friday to announce that Jennie Finch will start the opener against Italy and refused to divulge yet who will be on the mound against Australia.

The obvious pick would be Fernandez, who limited the Aussies to one hit in a 1-0 victory in the semifinals in Sydney, the only time the United States has beaten them in Olympic action.

Or, Candrea may opt to save her to face Australia in a later, more-meaningful game. That leaves two left-handers, two-time Olympian Lori Harrigan and Cat Osterman, who didn't allow an earned run in 74 2-3 innings this summer on the "Aiming for Athens" pre-Olympics tour.

Fans back home can find out by tuning to Bravo at 10 a.m. EDT to catch the game live.

NBC will instead offer live coverage of the U.S. men's basketball team opener against Puerto Rico during the day, with the prime-time show heavy on swimming and preliminary women's gymnastics action.

Aussie Spirit returns just six players from the squad that won bronze in Sydney, but that group includes third-time Olympians such as shortstop Natalie Ward, cleanup hitter Peta Edebone - who slugged one of the U.S.-beating homers - and pitching ace Tanya Harding.

"It's got to be our year," Harding said. "We have a lot of experience and a lot of youth. There's a great deal of power in the team. It's a really good mix. This is the best team we have ever put together."

The Americans are saying the same thing.

With four players who were on both Olympic championship clubs, two more from the Sydney squad and nine newcomers, they were as dominant as ever on the way to Greece, winning 70 straight games and allowing only 14 runs in a 53-game tour against top collegiate teams.

Then again, they'd won 112 in a row before dropping three straight in Sydney, forcing them to win their last five to get the gold.

Along the way, the Americans avenged their three losses. They open this Olympics facing a similar challenge as their first four foes - Italy, Australia, Japan, China and Canada - are all legitimate medal contenders.

"I think after what happened in 2000 ... every one of our batters that steps into that box is going to be prepared," said Leah O'Brien-Amico, who was part of both previous gold-winning teams.

The back-to-back-to-back losses by the Americans in 2000 may have been the best thing for the sport.

It showed that the rest of the world really could compete with the Americans and fans in the United States went from being curious about the length of the winning streak to being concerned about whether they'd be able to pull out of it.

The drama helped get softball on television more, far more than when it debuted in Atlanta. Every U.S. game will be on live in the United States this time, although strictly on cable.

Fans who've been turned off by low-scoring games filled with lots of strikeouts and occasional homers could be in for a surprise. The mound has been pushed back three feet, reducing velocity, and fences are deeper.

This tournament also could be critical to the sport's future. The International Olympic Committee has only promised to keep it on the Olympic docket through 2008, pending future review.

"We know how great a sport softball is and ... we believe that we belong in the games," said Laura Berg, another third-time Olympian. "It's a disappointment that it's on the chopping block."