(By Silke Rottenberg)

I still can't really believe we're through to Sunday's Final, but we went into the USA game knowing we had a chance. We held them at bay from the start, and it paid off at the end of the day.

I didn't particularly enjoy the first four games, there was far too little going on around my goal, and when our opponents did get a shot on target it went in. That's not a satisfactory situation for any goalkeeper.

There's a great atmosphere surrounding this World Cup. I really appreciated it in Columbus and Washington, the crowds were great; but it was even more sensational in Portland, an unbelievable occasion with a sell-out crowd at the PGE Park. I couldn’t believe it when they started applauding my saves. And there were loads of people congratulating us on our success at the airport in Portland and Los Angeles -- it was a wonderful feeling.

But now I'm totally focused on the upcoming task. I'm really looking forward to the World Cup final against Sweden. It’s the highlight of my career. It will be very difficult for both teams, but we've set our sights on taking this trophy home with us, and we'll succeed. I always wanted Sweden as our opponents, we're better equipped to cope with their style than Canada's. We're training once a day up to the final, and that's important for a goalkeeper, you need to maintain your rhythm.

Unfortunately, I've not been able to see that many World Cup games, so I can only offer a limited judgement on how the other teams have performed.

I was disappointed with China as I'd expected more from them, but Brazil didn't play badly. You've only got to look at who's made it to the final, and you have to say the European nations have improved a lot. That's definitely a positive aspect to the tournament. The Asian nations have also got better, and France too, they will be there or thereabouts over the next few years. And I was very surprised at how well Russia did, it was a major success for them to reach the quarter-finals.

I'm hoping our successful run will inspire more girls and women to take up football, and maybe we'll inspire them to go for this kind of success themselves. Whatever, we're over the moon and proud of what we've achieved so far.

I'd like to see the WUSA revived, I hope new doors open and new sponsors come along to help them keep going, for the sake of the USA and women's football as a whole. It's important for women's football, we've seen the benefits over the last three years. And I hope America's exit from the tournament doesn't have a negative impact on those efforts, although I'm afraid there may be a knock-on effect. On the other hand, women's football is on the up and people have seen that women can perform well.

Hopefully, some new sponsors will sit up and take notice. I'd like to think our success is a contribution towards a step in the right direction. What we've achieved so far has definitely given German women's football a lift, I'm totally convinced of that.

I'm keen to find out how many viewers tune in for Sunday's Final, which is on at prime-time in Germany. I think there's a wave of euphoria, and the folks back home are willing us to claim the title, and that might attract a few sponsors too.

We've got a fantastic team, a good blend of experience and youth. We didn't necessarily expect to get this far, so we've got to be looking ahead to the next few years, including the 2004 Olympics in Athens. But we'll turn our minds to the future once we're done with the World Cup.

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