Nadeshiko Japan fell to Germany 3-0 in the final of the Algarve Cup on Wednesday, finishing runnerup to the Germans for the second time in three years.

The Germans, ranked one spot ahead of world No. 3 Japan, showed their class in the second half, when Nadine Kessler, Anja Mittag and Dzenifer Marozsan each scored to turn a scoreless game into an onslaught that coach Norio Sasaki's World Cup champions were helpless to stop.

"Considering how Germany had dominated the first halves of games against us, it was great to be able to keep them scoreless in the first half," Nadeshiko captain Aya Miyama said. "But we made some substitutions at the half and before we could get our balance we were down."