Germany wins women's World Cup

[Rasputin]

Coach Jorge Barcellos said their philosophy has always been never-say-die.

"In football, nothing is impossible -- that's what I'm always telling my players," he said after his side stunned double champions the United States in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Their 4-0 victory sets up a final in Shanghai on Sunday against title-holders Germany, who would have been uneasy spectators as stylish but aggressive Brazil tore apart the top-ranked Americans.

World Player of the Year Marta scored two goals, with some sublime individual skills underlining why she is considered the best in the business.

But both Marta and Barcellos say Brazil's trademark attractive football is just a bonus as the ominous Germans, who have yet to concede a goal here, loom.

"For me, it is always more important to win the match than to play beautiful football," said Barcellos. "Germany is a very strong team and we need to make plans.

"Now, we are still nothing and we still have a long way to go to beat Germany in the final."

Marta, now the tournament's leading scorer on seven goals, was equally dismissive of individual showmanship, despite displaying plenty against the Americans.

"We are creating history by making the final and that is not down to me, it is down to a great performance by our team," she said.

"My goal is always to be the best and that is why I work so hard, but without my teammates I would be nothing."

The Auriverde are the only side from South America to have appeared at every women's World Cup since its inception in 1991, and Barcellos believes this could be the start of a golden era for Brazilian women.

"We have so many talented players in Brazil," he said. "We still have a lot of young players with great potential."

Their performance here is impressive after they lost a World Cup qualifying game in the lead-up to the tournament for the first time in their history.

In doing so, they also gave away their South American crown to Argentina.

That hit them hard and winning here is also about redressing that balance and repairing their battered pride.

Barcellos said the steely resolve of his players since that defeat has shone through in China.

"I congratulate my players not only for their performance but for their strong desire to win," he said.

[Rasputin]

Shanghai, China (dpa) - Germany on Sunday became the first country to successfully defend their women's World Cup title, when they beat Brazil 2-0 in the final in Shanghai.

Former World Footballer of the Year Birgit Prinz and 21-year-old Simone Laudehr scored the goals for Germany in the second half.

When FIFA president Joseph Blatter handed German captain Prinz the trophy, he set-off wild scenes of celebration in the Shanghai Hongkou Football Stadium as the German squad and their technical team started dancing on the podium to Queen's We Are The Champions.

The Brazilian players, meanwhile, stood huddled together on the field, many of them in tears.

German coach, Silvia Neid, who had been criticised in the run-up to the tournament after the team disappointed during several warm-up matches, said that she had always believed in the players.

"The team grew together and I knew that they would peak at the right time. They deserved the victory and it is just so fantastic that we managed to crown all the hard work with a win."

A capacity crowd of 31,000 saw Germany open the scoring in the 52nd minute when a long pass into the Brazilian half found Sandra Smisek in space. The forward went around her marker and found Prinz, who unleashed a shot that slipped into the goal under the jumping goalkeeper Andreia.

Marta, who is the present World Footballer of the Year, should have equalized for the South Americans in the 64th minute after the referee awarded a penalty for a foul on Cristiane in the German area, but Germany's Nadine Angerer dived to her right and managed to stop the ball.

Brazil, whose previous best finish in the World Cup was second place, continued pushing forward in the remaining time, but Germany's defence stood firm with Angerer pulling off another fantastic save from a Marta free kick in the 68th minute.

Four minutes from time Germany put the game beyond their opponents' reach when Laudehr scored with a header from a corner taken by Renate Lingor.

Marta, who won the Golden Shoe award for the top scorer of the tournament with seven goals and the Golden Ball as best player of the tournament, admitted after the game that Germany deserved their victory.

"It is very difficult to express my emotions. We played well, but we could not manage to get the goals we needed. Germany deserved the victory, but now we are looking towards the Olympic Games in Beijing next year and then hopefully we can be in the final again and possibly win.

"I think maybe we were expecting a bit too much, especially after being the better side in the first 30 minute. I think we thought that we would win and did not do enough to actually win."

German goalkeeper Angerer, who was not beaten in the six games at the tournament, broke Walter Zenga's world record for not conceding a goal. The Italian went 517 minutes without being beaten, Angerer stands at 539 minutes. She also won the award for the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

Angerer said that the German players went into the game feeling very confident. "We were all on a complete high and we believed that we could beat anybody.

"When the final whistle went, it was just such a relief. We had achieved what we set out to achieve and it is just unbelievable."

At the final whistle, the German players put on a T-shirt proclaiming them as world champions and later walked a lap of honour with a huge banner thanking the fans for their support.

While the German team were being cheered on their lap of honour the Brazilians stood in a circle deep in prayer with many of them still crying.

Two-time world champions US finished third after beating Norway 4- 1 in the Third Place play-off.