Under growing popular pressure, the federation lifted the ban.

Still, many men resisted the women's incursion into what they felt was their turf.

In 1973, state TV for the first time hired a woman as anchor of its "Sportschau," the weekly summary of Bundesliga games and a national institution.

In her fifth appearance, Carmen Thomas, then 26, had an innocent slip of the tongue _ referring to a top Bundesliga club as "Schalke 05" sted "Schalke 04."

She joked about her error later in the show, but a tabloid unleashed a campaign against her, which has become part of German sports folklore.

Today, several female reporters hold top sports jobs, including as TV anchors.

Barnhofer, the federation spokesman, said the DFB supports women's soccer wholeheartedly.

Yet women's soccer is far from drawing level with the men's game.

On average, a women's Bundesliga game draws just a few hundred spectators, compared with tens of thousands for the men.

Only a handful of top women players can make a living from soccer, including star striker Birgit Prinz, who in December was chosen FIFA's Player of the Year for the third straight year. Even the best women won't get rich like some of their male counterparts, said Prinz's manager, Siegfried Dietrich.

Prinz worked for years as a physiotherapist and now studies psychology to secure her future. For about two years, she played in the now-defunct women's professional league in the United States.

When Germany's women's team became European champion in 1989, the players were rewarded with a set of dinner plates. Today, they get cash bonuses, though a lot less than the men.

Dietrich said the breakthrough for German women's soccer came with the national team's 2003 World Cup victory. He noted that last month's UEFA Cup final between two German teams, FFC Frankfurt and Turbine Potsdam, drew 13,000 spectators.

The manager said he expects another leap forward over the next decade. Large numbers of girls are joining clubs "and we'll discover lots more talents."