Marta beat Prinz to be named the FIFA best women player of 2006, and she was no doubt the top candidate for the Golden Shoe and Golden Ball in China 2007.

Many foreign coaches and experts dubbed Marta as the person who could make all the difference.

Sunday's final will be the sixth head-to-head between Germany and Brazil at senior level. The previous five matches resulted in three German wins and two draws.

In World Cup history, Germany and Brazil met twice: in 1995, Germany won 6-1, in 1999 they drew 3-3, both at group stage.

In Olympic Games, they tied 1-1 in the first round in 1996 and Germany won both matches in 2000 (2-1 and 2-0), the latter being the Bronze Medal match.

The only win by a Brazilian women's team was at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Canada 2002 where they won 1-0 at group stage but lost to Germany two weeks later in the third-place playoff on penalties.

Germany's road to the final saw 11-0 win over Argentina, 0-0 tie with England, 2-0 win over Japan in Group A, 3-0 win over DPR Korea in the quarter-final and 3-0 win over Norway in the semi-final.

Brazil's road witnessed a 5-0 win over New Zealand, 4-0 win over hosts China, 1-0 win over Denmark in Group D, 3-2 win over Australia in the quarter-final and 4-0 win over the two-time champions United States.