Substitute Nia Kuenzer scored in extra time on Sunday as Germany came from behind to win the Women’s World Cup for the first time after beating Sweden 2-1.
Kuenzer headed in a free kick from Renate Lingor in the eighth minute of extra time, just beating Sweden goalkeeper Caroline Jonsson.
Hanna Ljungberg put the Swedes in the lead in the 41st minute, scoring on a breakaway after a set-up pass from Victoria Svensson that got Ljungberg behind the defense on the right side. With only Germany goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg to beat, the Swedish forward shot to the far post, beyond the reach of the sliding German goalkeeper.
Maren Meinert equalised for the Germans in the first minute of the second half, beating Jonsson after the Swedish defence stopped because they thought Meinert was offsides.
Both teams had chances to take the lead in the second half, but great goalkeeping and hard defence prevailed.
Two years ago, Germany beat Sweden 1-0 on a golden goal in the European Championship final.
At the 2003 Women’s World Cup, the Germans won all six of their matches, including beating defending champion United States 3-0 in the semifinals.
Sweden suffered just one loss in the first round, losing to the Americans in the tournament’s official opening match. The Swedes came from behind to beat Canada 2-1 in the semifinals.
On Saturday, the United States beat Canada 3-1 for third place.
Germany’s Tina Theune-Meyer became the first female coach to win the Women’s World Cup. Americans Anson Dorrance and Tony DiCicco, and Norwegian Even Pellerud have each won once.
On Sunday, the Germans had a great opportunity to take the lead in the 60th minute, but Ariane Hingst’s shot was saved and Birgit Prinz’s rebound attempt was cleared off the line.
One minute later, Svensson got behind Rottenberg, who came way off her line, but Kerstin Stegemann kept the ball out of the net.
The best chance for the Germans came in the 62nd minute when Prinz crossed to Pia Wunderlich on the left. Wunderlich was all alone with an open net in front of her, but her shot was well off the target.
Meinert then nearly scored another, but Jonsson just managed to tip the ball out.
Rottenberg made the biggest save of the match in the 83rd when Ljungberg had another one-on-one chance. This time, Rottenberg made the save.
In the 90th minute, Svensson thought she was the game-winner, but she was whistled for offsides.
In the first half, Sweden midfielder Malin Andersson had a great chance to open the scoring in the 30th minute, but her chip shot from outside the area went just over Rottenberg’s crossbar.
One minute later, Prinz ran down the left side and rolled a shot just wide of Jonsson’s far post.
Svensson had the prettiest play of the first half in the 25th minute when she put the ball through the legs of Stegemann and then beat Hingst, but her shot went wide.
On the counterattack in the same minute, Germany captain Bettina Wiegmann rolled in a cross to a sliding Prinz, but the ball was knocked out for a Germany corner.
Jonsson made the best save of the half in the 36th minute after Wunderlich sent a nice ball into the area for Prinz. The tournament’s leading scorer with seven goals looped a shot at the far post, but Jonsson got a hand on it and sent it out for a corner. — Sapa-AP