Yes, Germany won the 2007 Women's World Cup, and it was well done. Though Brazil had most of the possession in the first half, they failed to get by the German defense. Germany came out very strong in the second half and scored two very nice unanswered goals. Brazil had some chances, but German goalie Nadine Angerer was able to preserve her unbeaten streak. She didn't allow a single goal in the entire tournament—540 regulation minutes—which is a new world record for any goalie, male or female.
Brazil didn't get much chance to show off their ball skills because they were constantly pressured by an extremely fit and technical German side. The Europeans also had size on their side and were able to barge the Brazilians off the ball with regularity. I think Germany just had Brazil figured out.
I have to feel for Marta, who wasn't able to score on the only penalty kick of the game. The pressure must have been immense. Not only was the championship at stake, but all the world's attention is on her as ambassador of the women's game. Because of her and her teammates, Brazil will be starting a professional women's league this year, something she's been striving for. The whole world is talking about her as the new Pelé, so she really had a lot to live up to. In hindsight, Christiane, who had received the foul, probably should have taken that penalty kick, but one wonders if anyone could have gotten by Angerer (who naturally took the award for best goalkeeper).
Marta did go away from the tournament with quite a bit of hardware, though. On top of the silver medal she won both the Golden Ball (best player) and Golden Shoe (most goals) awards. Birgit Prinz, who scored the first goal for Germany today won the Silver Ball, and Christiane won the Bronze Ball. American Abby Wambach won the Silver Shoe for her six goals and one assist, and Ragnhild Gulbrandsen (I just love saying her name) got the Bronze Shoe for her six goals for Norway.
Speaking of Wambach and Gulbrandsen, they were both involved and indeed both scored in the third place match. After their worst ever loss in the game against Brazil, the U.S. got some of their own back by beating a tired Norway 4-1, and continued their tradition of never going home without a medal. Norway did get the Fair Play Award for the cleanest team of the tournament, though one shouldn't get the impression that they didn't play with passion. Even when they were four goals down they continued to play with determination and heart. Brazil, not surprisingly, won the vote for most entertaining team.
Those are all the official awards. Stay tuned for the unofficial ones...
