Foxboro, Mass. ? As they watched the videos, they could feel the intensity building. And their passion.

Tapes of past failures against Norway proved an effective motivation for the United States. The Americans won a rough, often ragged game 1-0 Wednesday night to advance to the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup.

In 1995, the Norwegians beat the United States on the way to winning the World Cup. They even did a victory crawl that still irks the Americans.

Five years later, Norway won the Olympics with an overtime victory against the U.S.

This time, the Americans physically dominated their archrivals. It was the perfect setting for Abby Wambach, the power forward who scored the only goal on a header and generally wreaked havoc all over the Gillette Stadium field.

“The more physical, the better for me,” said Wambach, who got the third goal of her first World Cup. “That’s my style. That’s the way I want to play.”

Wambach was a threat all night — to score, to draw fouls, to run over defenders. Her goal came on a first-half header off a long feed by another World Cup newcomer, Cat Reddick.

“Another perfect feed from Cat,” Wambach said. “Just like they all are.

“It was the biggest goal of my life.”

Mia Hamm, left, of the United States battles for the ball with Norway's Unni Lehn during the second half of their Women's World Cup quarterfinal game. The Americans won, 1-0, Wednesday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.

The defending champion Americans will play either Germany or Russia in the semifinals Sunday in Portland, Ore. Also heading to Portland is Sweden, which defeated Brazil, 2-1, in the opener of the doubleheader before 25,103.

Norway, ranked second in the world behind the Americans, not only goes home from this tournament, but was eliminated from the 2004 Olympics, for which the World Cup is a qualifier for European teams.

“That’s really not right, to have the Olympics without them, they are one of the best teams in the world,” U.S. forward Tiffeny Milbrett said. “They always play us well and they beat us in a lot of big games.”

A fact that coach April Heinrichs emphasized Tuesday during the team’s video session. She subjected the players to video of those impossible-to-forget defeats.

“Watching that, I could feel that burning feeling again,” goalkeeper Briana Scurry said after her third straight shutout. “I thought in my head, ‘There is no way we will ever have that feeling again.”‘

Added Mia Hamm: “For those of us that were there, it’s not a good feeling. It makes you sick watching it.”

The Americans have won the last four meetings with Norway, but still trail 18-17-2 in the overall series.