In their bid to retain the trophy, the Germans started with an offensive explosion, annihilating Argentina 11-0. But then their dominant defense took over, keeping clean sheets all the way to the final. The only blemish on their campaign was a scoreless draw with England in the group stage.
The Brazilians were similarly stalwart. Though they had conceded two goals to Australia in the quarterfinals, they won every match on the way to their meeting with Germany, thanks in part to the seven goals provided by Marta, the tournament's leading scorer.
Playing at the Hongkou Stadium in Shanghai, the teams kept each other scoreless through the first half, but German forward and captain Birgit Prinz broke the deadlock with a strike in the 52nd minute. It was her fourteenth World Cup goal overall, making her the competition's all-time leading scorer.
Marta had a chance to equalize with a second-half penalty, but German keeper Nadine Angerer saved the attempt. Midfielder Simone Laudehr then cemented the victory in the 86th minute. The 2-0 scoreline was a mirror image of the men's final in 2002, when Brazil took the honors.
Prinz retired after the tournament. Marta returned in 2011 and raised her tally to fourteen to share the scoring title.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar