A year ago to the day, this important declaration was made at the headquarters of the governing body of world football in Zurich. FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter was the man who once again brought joy to Germany by announcing that the country had been selected to host the sixth FIFA Women's World CupTM, in 2011.

One person who was particularly pleased was federal chancellor Angela Merkel. The head of state was the person who had encouraged the German Football Association (DFB) to apply to host the event. At an extraordinary general meeting of the DFB in Leipzig in 2005, she initiated the application for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 and promised her wholehearted support.

The DFB board took the federal chancellor's words to heart and officially made FIFA aware of their desire to host the tournament. The FAs of Australia, France, Canada, Peru and Switzerland also followed suit, but after a number of withdrawals, Canada ended up being the only opposition to Germany's application. On 30 October 2007 in Zurich, a showdown was held between two countries very much at the forefront of women's football, with the outcome being decided by the words in the title of this article.

A year has passed since this historic moment, making this the ideal time to look back at some of the milestones that have been achieved over the past 12 months.

30.10.2007 Announcement
The FIFA Executive Committee in Zurich awards the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 to Germany. The DFB's application defeats Canada's, meaning that Germany will organise its first ever FIFA Women's World Cup.

09.11.2007 Appointment
The DFB board name world and European champion Steffi Jones as President of the Organising Committee of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011.

01.01.2008 Official duties
Steffi Jones officially takes up office as President of the Organising Committee of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011.

25.01.2008 Opening the offices
With a host of prominent figures from the worlds of sport, politics and society looking on, the Organising Committee of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 opened its offices at DFB headquarters in Frankfurt in an official ceremony. The event also saw President Steffi Jones introduce her five-strong team, comprising general coordinator Ulrich Wolter, Heike Ullrich (tournament organisation), Doris Fitschen (marketing), Winfried Nass (cities/stadiums) and Jens Grittner (communications).

14.03.2008 Second tournament
FIFA also decides to award the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup 2010 to Germany.

19.04.2008 "Arena Deutschland" officially opened
As part of the DFB German cup final festivities, Steffi Jones and Franz Beckenbauer present the official logo of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011.

19.04.2008 Federal president becomes tournament patron
As was the case with the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, the German federal president becomes the patron of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011.

29.05.2008 Support for Steffi Jones
The FIFA Women's World Cup organising committee selects three former internationals - Britta Carlson, Renate Lingor and Sandra Minnert - to be official ambassadors for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011.

30.05.2008 1. National sponsor
Deutsche Telekom becomes a national sponsor for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011.

04.08.2008 - 15.08.2008 Stadium tour of candidate cities
To get a better idea of the state of progress of the stadium projects, the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 Organising Committee goes on an inspection tour of the 11 candidate cities. Their impressions will form an integral part of the decision-making process for the host cities of the first FIFA Women's World Cup to be held in Germany.

30.09.2008 Decision from the federal chancellor's office
The FIFA Women's World Cup announces that the nine host cities of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 will be Augsburg, Berlin, Bochum, Dresden, Frankfurt, Leverkusen, Monchengladbach, Sinsheim and Wolfsburg. The official ceremony is hosted in Berlin by Angela Merkel and features members of the German government, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter and DFB president Dr Theo Zwanziger.