23 May 2002 - There's A Reason It's Called A Home Advantage

On 23 May 2002, Frankfurt hosted and won the first UEFA Women's Cup Final, beating Umeå 2-0.

Although UEFA first held a tournament for women's international teams in 1969, and has organized a regular European championship since 1982, the 2001-02 Women's Cup was its first club competition for its distaff members. Including a single-match qualifying round, a total of 33 teams participated.

Both Frankfurt and Umeå impressed in the early rounds, winning their groups without a loss and setting goal differentials of +24 and +10, respectively (Frankfurt's differential was reached primarily in a single game when they beat CSC Yerevan 18-0 in their final match of the group).

They both made their way through the knockout rounds to reach the final, played at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt. There, a crowd of just over 12,000 gathered to watch a closely-fought match that remained scoreless deep into the second half.

Then, in the 68th minute, defender Steffi Jones, a German international and Frankfurt native, scored the opening goal to put the hosts in front. The defenses for both sides continued to dominate for the remaining minutes before midfielder and captain Birgit Prinz (pictured) added a second for the home team in the 89th minute to set the final margin at 2-0.

The two teams met twice more in the tournament final, with Umeå winning in 2004 and Frankfurt winning in 2008.

20 December 2004 - Prinz Gets Another Crown

On 20 December 2004, German striker Birgit Prinz repeated as FIFA World Player of the Year despite having what, for her, was a down year.

She had claimed her first World Player of the Year award in 2003, after leading Germany to victory in that year's World Cup and winning a German league and cup double with Frankfurt. But in the 2003-04 season, despite a strong performance from Prinz, Frankfurt finished as runners-up in the Bundesliga and the UEFA Women's Cup. She continued to shine for the national team, scoring 14 goals in 14 matches that year, but ended 2004 without a single team trophy.

Nevertheless, she was a clear favorite for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, finishing with 376 votes, well ahead of second-place finisher Mia Hamm (286).

Prinz won the award for a third time in 2005 after taking another league title with Frankfurt and the European Championship with Germany.

30 September 2007 - Germany Doubles Up On Brazil

On 30 September 2007, Germany won their second consecutive Women's World Cup, beating Brazil 2-0.

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.