May 27, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - All eyes were on Germany this past Saturday (May 24) as former Penn State women's soccer player and current member of the U.S. National Team, Ali Krieger (2003-06), tried to become what is believed to be the first American woman to win the UEFA Women's Cup. Her club, FFC Frankfurt, was trying to capture its third Cup which set a record for most wins by one squad in UEFA Women's history. Standing in their way was Swedish powerhouse Umea IK led by the 2007 FIFA Women's Player of the Year, Marta from Brazil.
The two teams had fought to a 1-1 tie in the first leg of the championship in Sweden but FFC Frankfurt was able to pull off a 3-2 win in front of their hometown crowd to capture the final game giving them a 4-3 advantage in aggregate. A record crowd of 27,640 bested the old German record for women's soccer by over 5,000.
Krieger started in both legs of the championship playing all 90 minutes of the final leg.
Krieger's celebration was short and sweet as she had to head to Carson, Calif. to join the Women's National Team for the end of their two-week camp at the Home Depot Center preparing for the Peace Queen Cup in South Korea. Krieger has played in two games with the National Team dating back to January at the Four Nations Tournament in China.