Erin Paul FIFA Women's World Cup

It was a fitting end to three weeks of spectacular football. Germany and Brazil put on an incredible display of speed, skill and drama. The sold-out crowd at the Shanghai Hongkou stadium was absolutely electrified by what they were watching on the field - being part of it gave [producer] Jennifer Barr and I goose bumps.

In the end, Germany's size and outstanding goalkeeping proved too much for the much smaller Brazilian side. Marta's speed and mastery, while incredible to watch, was mostly neutralized by the power of the defenders around her. Still, she had the crowd on her side - every time she touched the ball, 31,000 fans screamed her name. The suspense hanging over the stadium when she took the penalty kick was surreal. But Nadine Angerer proved the difference in the match, as she continued her remarkable unbeaten streak.

Despite their accomplishment of playing in their first ever World Cup final, the despair from the Brazilian squad after the whistle blew could be felt in the stands. Many of them lay on the field with their hands covering their eyes, as the Germans celebrated their second title in a row.

For us, it was also a celebration of the end to a long month.

The final day, the final two games. More than three weeks in China and it all comes down to this. Certainly the past few days have been the most exciting, not just because of the quality of the games, but because of what has been going on behind the scenes.

Those of you following the story know that I interviewed U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo in the mix zone after the stunning loss to Brazil - in fact, our CBC crew was the only media to interview her. We had a deal with the ESPN crew that we would share interviews, because of the craziness of the mix zone, and the fact the press conference with the US coach was happening concurrently. They did not get the Solo interview, so they asked us for it.

That led to what we're referring to as "the international incident."

A very interesting night here in Hangzhou. The risky gamble by American head coach Greg Ryan to bench his star goalie Hope Solo in favour of the untried - at least in this tournament - Briana Scurry, was very much debated in our media centre. The American sportswriters couldn't believe his decision, and were lambasting it before the game even started.

Hope Solo, of course, was coming off three consecutive clean sheets, Scurry had not played a minute here in China. But Scurry's record against Brazil was 12-0. She had beaten them three months ago in the States, as well as in that hard-fought battle in Athens in the Olympic gold-medal final. Solo had never played against Brazil. A bold move by Ryan, which he said was guided "by his heart."

Of course, hindsight is 20-20, but what a bad move it appeared to be. On a corner kick by Formiga, defender Leslie Osborne headed the ball into her own net past Scurry. Surely that set the US back on their heels as the Brazilian side went up 1-0 on the fluke goal.

It's been nearly three weeks since we arrived in China and yesterday we returned to the city where it all began for us, Hangzhou. We're here covering the matchup between the U.S. and Brazil, which takes place here on Thursday.

The last few days have been quite interesting - we were on hand in Tianjin for the exciting game between Australia and Brazil. We've been spending a lot of time with the Aussie television crew here from SBS, but before the game started we were a little concerned about how badly we thought Australia would lose the game. Turns out we were incredibly impressed with the battle put up by the Aussie side, but again, like the Norway/Canada game, a blown call by the ref made the difference.

Brazil was awarded its penalty kick just over 20 minutes in after Australia's Kate McShea tackled Renata Costa a few steps outside the box. Referee Christine Beck immediately pointed to the penalty spot and the indomitable Marta wasn't about to miss.

It was a crushing result for Big Red. The team that was expected to at least get out of their group was stopped by the surging Aussie tide. An Australian team, who had never won a World Cup match prior to this tournament suddenly found their stride with a win over Ghana, a draw against the much-higher ranked Norway, and the draw against Canada, allowing them to advance.

For Canada, this was a result they hadn't predicted. Even with their backs against the wall, they were optimistic about a win against Australia. I talked to the team before hand, and they said they loved that type of pressure, and in fact, thrived on it.

That much was clear early on, as Melissa Tancredi scored the second fastest goal in World Cup history, 32 seconds into the match. Canada seemed to be on fire ... and that was capped by the Sinclair goal at the 85th minute of the game. It seemed that it would be a red tide going on to the quarter-finals, until the Aussie captain Cheryl Salisbury destroyed the hopes of a nation with her goal in the 92nd minute.

Our crew has arrived in Chengdu. We'd been warned about flying locally here in China because of the safety records, but frankly, we were impressed by the speed and efficiency with check-in, security, and departure. Chengdu is a 2.5 hour flight from Hangzhou, and from our brief impressions so far, another incredible city. Instant differences that we've noticed - it's much quieter.

A tough loss Wednesday for Team Canada.

We were in the stadium for the game, and were so impressed during the first half, and couldn't believe how strong the team looked. But after halftime, the momentum changed.

We asked the players about it and they said they felt like they came out so hard in the first half, that they didn't have the legs for the second half. Norway definitely sensed the shift and capitalized on it. The team has said they need to do a better job of pacing through the whole 90 minutes - and they'll have to do that against Ghana.

Today we toured Hangzhou in search of scenic shots for our broadcast - and everywhere we looked we found something beautiful. We did our standups in the stunning area of West Lake, the heart of the city. It's a spectacular venue, surrounded by lush, verdant hills, and the lake is dotted with islands, pavilions and gardens.

It is high travel season here in Hangzhou, and the Chinese people seemed to be just as fascinated with us, as we were by the scenery. As we prepared to shoot our standups, a large crowd gathered to watch. Our fixer (translator) was asked if I was a famous actress! I had to laugh and hoped they weren't disappointed to hear I was only a sports reporter from Toronto, Canada.

We are amazed by this beautiful vibrant city, which manages to beautifully blend the excitement of Times Square with the history of one of the world's oldest cultures. The people here are extremely curious about us, and we never fail to draw a small crowd, especially when the television camera comes out.

Hello from China. It's just two days before the FIFA Women's World Cup opens here and I'm still a bit jetlagged.

My crew and I will be covering the Women's World Cup on the ground, and over the next month, I hope to provide you with some insight to the Canadian team, the tournament, and some of the culture here in this remarkable country.

We arrived in Shanghai on Thursday after a 14.5 hr flight from Toronto. Our first destination is the town of Hangzhou, where Group C will play their preliminary games. Hangzhou is a 3 hour drive from Shanghai - not exactly ideal after a long flight, but made even more daunting because of the nature of the driving here in China, where it seems to be that anyone who has the guts gets the right of the road. Being from Toronto, I thought I was a fearless driver, but I've met my match. Thankfully we've hired drivers here, or else we'd still be stuck at the airport, trying to get out of the roundabout, in a scene reminiscent of National Lampoon's European Vacation.