Germany - World Champions
Football finals have a reputation for being a bit meh. Teams tend to go into lockdown as soon as they've scored a single goal, which is no fun from a selfish spectator's point of view. However, the women's football World Cup final between Germany and Brazil was pretty exciting, I don't think I've ever shouted at the TV so much before (yes, to my bemusement, at some point I turned into one of Those People).
Brazil had a shock triumph over the American favourites in the semis to play Germany. This made the final extra interesting because it pitted two different playing styles against each other, powerhouse vs styly moves, as epitomised by legends Birgit Prinz (DE) and Marta (BRA).
Germany and Brazil were evenly matched and it was nil all when the whistle went for the half-time oranges. The earful the German coach gave her team must've done some good, because seven minutes into the second half, Prinz scraped a shot under the Brazilian goalkeeper. Brazil had a crucial chance to equalise, but Marta's penalty was saved by Angerer (who, btw, didn't let in a goal all tournament). The Brazilians continued to have more ball time but couldn't score and a late second goal made sure the Germans held onto their world title.
So, hurray for Germany and hurray for no bloody penalty shootouts.
Brazil had a shock triumph over the American favourites in the semis to play Germany. This made the final extra interesting because it pitted two different playing styles against each other, powerhouse vs styly moves, as epitomised by legends Birgit Prinz (DE) and Marta (BRA).
Germany and Brazil were evenly matched and it was nil all when the whistle went for the half-time oranges. The earful the German coach gave her team must've done some good, because seven minutes into the second half, Prinz scraped a shot under the Brazilian goalkeeper. Brazil had a crucial chance to equalise, but Marta's penalty was saved by Angerer (who, btw, didn't let in a goal all tournament). The Brazilians continued to have more ball time but couldn't score and a late second goal made sure the Germans held onto their world title.
So, hurray for Germany and hurray for no bloody penalty shootouts.