The crowd erupted into carnival mood as the World Cup kicked off on Sunday evening in Berlin. Defending champions Germany face Canada in the tournament's opening game.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Christian Wulff and FIFA chief Sepp Blatter were among the record crowd of more than 70,000 fans in the German capital's Olympic Stadium – the largest attendance ever for a women's soccer match in Europe.

"They're here for us," German captain Birgit Prinz said. "I don't see it as an added pressure. If we play well - which I assume we will - then I think it's a lot cooler if over 70,000 people are celebrating and enjoying themselves and making waves, than when there's only 150."

The 33-year-old leads the German for her record-breaking fifth World Cup. Sunday's game marks the closing of a circle: in her first international game, at the age of just 16, Prinz also faced Canada.

Canadians on top form

The Canadians, who have always stood in the shadow of their great rivals from the United Sates, have edged their way into the world soccer elite and are currently ranked sixth. Their best performance in a World Cup was in the US in 2003, when they finished fourth. They qualified for this World Cup by winning the CONCACAF Group without giving up a single goal.

"The results show how the team has developed," said Canada's trainer Caroline Morace, a friend of German coach Neid. "We will be meeting a very strong opponent, which is good at getting the ball."

Women's football is prominent in Canada - indeed women's national team members are better known than the men's. After Canada was awarded the contract to host the next World Cup in 2015 even more people have turned their attention to the women's team. Around 568,000 women and girls play organized football in Canada, which has a population of just under 34 million.

Statistics look good for Germany

But the Germans went into Sunday's match feeling relatively relaxed. As the hosts, and as the holders of the European and World Cups, they are the big favorites to secure their third title in a row. Germany has beaten Canada on every one of the nine occasions they've faced each other - last time with a clear 5-0 victory at a match in September last year.

"It won't be so easy this time," Neid said.

Still, the German women's team has never lost an opening game at the World Cup. In fact, you have to go back to 1999 to find a match they lost - it was in the quarter finals against the United States (2-3).

The training has shown that the German squad has plenty of talent. The younger players proved their worth in the warm-up matches. But coach Neid is likely to field her most experienced players in the opening game: old hands Prinz and striker Inka Grings. The hope is they'll tire out the opponents and maybe then make room for the eager young teammates.

Neid said she is hoping to secure the first three points in front of embattled FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Vice President Michel Platini as well as German President Christian Wulff, Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Football Association head Theo Zwanziger.

"A winning start is really important," Neid said. "We want to make a positive mark on the game to get the fans behind us straight away.

"Now the butterflies start," she added. "We've worked a long time for this and of course we want to show what we can do."

Author: Olivia Fritz / jli

Editor: Sean Sinico