Philadelphia ? With superstar Mia Hamm and rising sensation Abby Wambach flanking her on the front line, Cindy Parlow gets little attention on this U.S. team. Then Parlow goes out and scores a big goal.

Parlow did it in the United States’ opener of the World Cup, a 3-1 victory over Sweden. She lifted her 5-foot-11 frame in the penalty area and, virtually uncontested, headed home the Americans’ second goal.

It was her 63rd international score — third in a World Cup — and, she claimed, typical Parlow.

“Mia gave me a perfect corner kick and I just had to go up and put it in,” Parlow said Tuesday, relaxing in a hotel library after practice was canceled. “I just kept saying, ‘Don’t put it over the net.’

“It’s a lot about attitude and being fearless and just going up and doing it. The keeper might be punching you in the back of the head, but you have to do it. So much of it is timing.

“And it doesn’t hurt when you are 5-11.”

Wambach is the same height as Parlow, and that combination makes for some aggressive play up front by the United States. But while Wambach sometimes looks like a runaway train as she heads toward the net, Parlow is more controlled.

Indeed, Parlow, just 25 but in her ninth season with the national team, significantly has improved her overall game. While hardly a speedster, she has upgraded her moves with the ball and her playmaking. She’s even gotten better as a defender after playing in midfield at times for the WUSA’s Atlanta Beat.

Parlow is especially adept at shielding the ball from opponents as she tries to move into scoring position.

“I think that’s one of Cindy’s biggest strengths now,” Hamm said. “She’s a versatile player and a great finisher.”

Coming from the best finisher in soccer history — Hamm is the career scoring leader with 142 international goals — that’s quite a compliment.

“In 1999, I was young and naive to the international game,” Parlow said. “Now I’m more comfortable and more complete. Four years ago, there was a lot more fear — I was a nervous wreck. It was the first time and I was going in not knowing anything. Now, I know what to expect.”

What opponents can expect is to see Parlow overshadowing shorter defenders in the box. Sweden went to a taller lineup in the opener primarily to deal with Parlow and Wambach, but many teams — including Nigeria and North Korea, the Americans’ next two foes — don’t have enough depth to do so.

Instead, Parlow can expect a very physical game against the Nigerians on Thursday night. The United States has won both meetings: 7-1 in the last World Cup, 3-1 in the 2000 Olympics.

“I don’t shy away from physical contact,” said Parlow, whose 63 goals rank fourth on the team behind Hamm, Tiffeny Milbrett (98) and Kristine Lilly (92).

“One great thing about this team, we have learned to embrace that kind of game and not shy away from it.”