¡¡¡¡LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12 (Xinhuanet Sportswriter Wang Zijiang) -- Germany beat Sweden 2-1 with a golden ball through second half substitution Nia Kuenzer to win the fourth women's World Cup soccer title at the Home Depot Center,Carson, California, on Sunday.

¡¡¡¡Kuenzer, sent in the 88th minute, hammered a header into the Sweden goal eight minutes into the extra time after the score was deadlocked at 1-1 in 90 minutes.

¡¡¡¡The 23-year-old defender, who played only 64 minutes in Germany's first five games, rose well to meet Renate Lingor's freekick, heading past a full-stretched Sweden 'keeper Caroline Joensson andsending the crowd to frenzy.

¡¡¡¡Sepp Blatter, President of world football's governing body FIFA,handed the champion's trophy to the German team before a crowd of 26,137, which also put the women's World Cup to a conclusion after22-day competition.

¡¡¡¡The Germans became only the third nation to win the World Cup champions, following the United States (1991, 1999), and Norway (1995).

¡¡¡¡"I was confused," a jubilant Kuenzer said after the match. "I wasn't sure what happened, and then my teammates are jumping on top of me and we are all on the ground."

¡¡¡¡"These are two very equal teams," Germany head coach Tina Theune-Meyer said. "There will be many parties today in Germany."

¡¡¡¡Sweden coach Marika Domanski Lyfors complained about referee Floarea Ionescu's awarding of the free kick that Kuenzer converted.

¡¡¡¡"It's harder to lose when it's not fair," she said. "It wasn't a free kick and everyone saw it. I don't know how she could call it."

¡¡¡¡Sweden opened the scoring in the 41st minute through Hanna Ljungberg, but German striker Maren Meinert canceled out their lead one minute after the restart.

¡¡¡¡Germany, who toppled defending champions the United States 3-0 in the semifinals, were in an awesome form in the tournament and looked sure to win their first World Cup title.

¡¡¡¡The European champions scored 23 goals en route to the final and striker Birgit Prinz led the goal tally with seven goals.

¡¡¡¡It was a different story from the Swedes, who rebounded from their 3-1 defeat in their opening match with the United States andscored four consecutive wins.

¡¡¡¡The two sides were familiar with each other since they had met several times on big occasions. And the latest one took place in the 2001 European championships final, which was won by Germany thanks to a golden goal.

¡¡¡¡Both played attacking football after the start, but Sweden weresurprisingly causing the German defense more trouble with their pacy striking tandem Ljungberg and Svensson.

¡¡¡¡Neither side had a good chance until the 25th minute, when Svensson drove a long shot from 20 meters but her effort was wide of the left post.

¡¡¡¡The Swedes were more like taking the lead and in the 30th minute, Malin Andersson's volley at the edge of the box was only inches over the crossbar.

¡¡¡¡The Germans fought back and created their first real chance in the 31st minute, when captain Bettina Wiegmann and Prinz broke into the box with a good moves. But Prinz's shot was wide of the far post.

¡¡¡¡Prinz had another good opportunity wasted in the 37th minute, but her shot from close range was miraculously saved by a diving Joensson.

¡¡¡¡Sweden then took the lead. Ljungberg broke down from the left flank after receiving a through ball from striking partner Victoria Svensson. She ran through the German defense and fired home to the top corner of the net.

¡¡¡¡Germany were closing to leveling the score in the last minute of the first half, but Prinz looked too slow to pick up a Kerstin Stegemann pass in a good position.

¡¡¡¡Less than a minute into the second half, Germany had the scoredequalized. Prinz spotted an unmarked Meinert on the right side andher shot left Joensson to have no chance.

¡¡¡¡The final then turned into a one-way traffic the Germans took command.

¡¡¡¡German midfielder Pia Wunderlich wasted a good chance in the 63rd minute by blasting a shot over the crossbar and defender Kerstin Stegemann was also close to scoring with a right-footed long shot from 20 meters.

¡¡¡¡They should have scored three or four times but the scoreline remained 1-1 with 10 minutes to go, largely because of an outstanding Sweden 'keeper Joensson. And the Swedes made a fiercecomeback.

¡¡¡¡Svensson made a superb solo run in the 80th minute, beating three defenders but failed to make a shot. Ljungberg was in a perfect position in front of the goal minutes later, but she mishit the ball in the last moment.

¡¡¡¡Svensson was looked like scoring in the 88th minute, but her right-foot shot hit straight at the far post.

¡¡¡¡The final was forced to extra time with the score deadlocked at1-1. And again the Germans could not find the net, until Kuenzer'sthundering golden goal.

¡¡¡¡China, who was asked to give up their hosting right of the World Cup, will stage the fifth Women's World Cup in 2007.

¡¡¡¡Line-ups:

¡¡¡¡Germany

¡¡¡¡Silke Rottenberg, Kerstin Stegemann, Renate Lingor, Pia Wunderlich (Nia Kuenzer 88th), Birgit Prinz, Bettina Wiegmann (c),Sandra Minnert, Maren Meinert, Ariane Hingst, Kerstin Garefrekes (Martina Mueller 76th), Stefanie Gottschlich

¡¡¡¡Sweden

¡¡¡¡Caroline Joensson, Karolina Westberg, Jane Toernqvist, Hanna Marklund, Malin Mostroem (c), Sara Larsson (Kristin Bengtsson 76th), Malin Andersson (Linda Fagerstroem 53rd), Hanna Lungberg, Victoria Svensson, Anna Sjoestroem (Therese Sjoegran 53rd), Frida Oestberg Enditem