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Women's professional soccer seems to be getting a 1998 start in the United States, after all. In recent weeks, the USISL's W-League has begun to move into the void created in December when the National Soccer Alliance closed up shop without ever having played a game. In January, the USISL announced that its W-League was being split into an Elite division (W-1) and a "non-elite" division (W-2). Presumably, it is still trying to come up with a better-sounding name for the non-elite division.

The U.S. Soccer Federation is tightening the schedule for this year's U.S. Open Cup tournament, trying to avoid a repeat of the schedule crush that hit American soccer last August and September. The federation, which announced the schedule on Wednesday, is keeping last year's format, but is beginning several weeks earlier. Starting with the third round, it has set specific dates for the games to be played. Last year, it set ranges of dates, and allowed some stretching of those ranges.

This year's U.S. Open Cup tournament will very strongly reflect the changed face of American professional soccer. The draw is dominated by teams from leagues that didn't exist a decade ago. According to U.S. Soccer Federation executive vice president Larry Monaco, who is chairman of the federation's U.S. Open Cup committee, this year's competition will include eight teams from Major League Soccer (compared to four MLS teams in last year's tournament),...

The biggest splash in American soccer in 1996 was the debut of Major League Soccer. But the top end isn't the only part of U.S. soccer's professional structure that's getting a face-lift. The merger of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the awkwardly named but well-run United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues (USISL) will go into effect this year, and the sport will be pulling in the same direction at all pro levels. One thing that has plagued American soccer for decades is competition among leagues.

It's easy for it to get overlooked in the midst of the various other competitions going on at the moment, but the United States' oldest soccer tournament, the U.S. Open Cup, has had a revival this season. The Open Cup is at the semifinal stage, but scheduling the games has been difficult. Professional teams have come into the tournament in numbers this year. The downside is that the Open Cup schedule-makers have had to work their way around those teams' league schedules. One semifinal will be played tomorrow in Rochester, N.Y., between the Rochester Rhinos of the A-League and the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.

Bora Milutinovic resigned as coach of the U.S. soccer team yesterday following six months of negotiations over a new four-year contract. Milutinovic, 55, led the United States to the second round of the World Cup last summer, coaching the Americans to their first victory in the tournament since 1950. Milutinovic had wanted to stay on as coach. But a U.S. Soccer Federation official, speaking on the condition he not be identified, said the sides couldn't agree on terms.

Bora Milutinovic, the smiling, tousle-haired Slav who coached the United States to some of its greatest successes on the soccer field in the last three years, is out. Whether he resigned as national team coach or was fired is open to debate. According to the U.S. Soccer Federation, which issued a two-page statement yesterday morning, Milutinovic "stepped down as coach. " According to Milutinovic, he was forced out. "I didn't step down," he said. "They asked me to step down.

Alan Rothenberg, who headed this summer's World Cup, survived a bitter campaign to win re-election yesterday as the president of the United States Soccer Federation. Rothenberg won another four-year term at the USSF's annual general meeting when he defeated USSF treasurer Richard Groff on the second ballot. Rothenberg won 53.4 percent of the vote, while Groff took 46.6 percent. "It says the rank and file is in overwhelming support of what we're doing," Rothenberg said. "The people have spoken up pretty clearly.

The business of playing the 15th World Cup soccer tournament has been completed, but the business of tallying its financial and artistic success will continue for some time. Joseph Blatter, general secretary of FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, expressed disappointment yesterday that the championship match between Brazil and Italy on Sunday had been decided by penalty kicks. Brazil emerged with its fourth world title after 120 minutes of scoreless soccer. "Naturally, this is not exactly what we in football expected from this final," Blatter said.

The 1994 World Cup has come and gone, successful on the field until the final game, hugely successful off the field. Consider, for example, the TV numbers. The overnight rating for the Brazil- Italy final - taken from a sampling of 32 major markets - indicates the game was viewed by a record soccer audience for U.S. television. The national ratings are due out Thursday, and ABC figures to wind up with an average rating of between 5.0 and 6.0 for 11 telecasts, well above what U.S. World Cup organizer Alan Rothenberg said was the network's pre-World Cup projection of 4.0 to 4.5. Now, the crowds.