Germany shows winning ways at Confederation Cup
Lars Stindl scored the only goal of the game in the first half as Germany beat Chile 1-0 in the Confederations Cup final on Sunday. This is the first time Germany, the reigning world champions, have won the Confederations Cup title in the eighth edition of the World Cup warm-up tournament.
Issued on:
Earlier on, the German team won the UEFA EURO Under 21 finals against Spain 1-0.
Lars Stindl's simple goal following a costly first-half blunder by Marcelo Diaz was enough to give Germany a 1-0 win over Chile in the Confederations Cup final on Sunday.
"We fought well and deserved this win, says Germany captain Julian Draxler. “We hadn't played together before the tournament, which makes it even more valuable.
"Every title is special, but with this young team, it's even more so.
"Now we can all go on holiday -- and even take the trophy with us."
This is the first time ever that defending champions Germany, have won the Confederations Cup in the eighth edition of the pre-World Cup tournament.
"There was not much difference between the two teams," said Chile captain Claudio Bravo, voted the tournament's best goalkeeper.
"We are sad not to have won, but we played against a world-class team and must learn from our mistakes."
The video assistant referee (VAR) again came into the spotlight as Chile's Gonzalo Jara was lucky not to be sent off in the second half.
Despite his elbow in the face of Werner being reviewed by the VAR, the defender was only booked on 65 minutes.
Werner, Stindl and Leon Goretzka all finished with three goals but RB Leipzig striker Werner took the top scorer's prize by virtue of also supplying two assists.
Despite dominating for long spells, Chile failed to turn 61 percent possession and 20 shots -- compared to the Germans' eight -- into goals.
The South Americans kept the same team which squeezed past Portugal 3-0 on a penalty shoot out after a goalless draw in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Germany's only change from the team which beat Mexico 4-1 in the last four saw defender Shkodran Mustafi replace Benjamin Henrichs.
On June 30, Germany was already victorious in the Under 21 European Championship by beating Spain 1-0.
It is Germany's second title in the age group following their triumph in 2009, while Spain failed to expand their collection of four titles.
Mitchell Weiser scored the only, and winning goal with a looping first-half header arcing over Spanish keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and into the far corner on 40 minutes for his first goal of the tournament following a cross from right-back Jeremy Toljan.
Spain came into the final having claimed four wins in as many games at the tournament and coach Albert Celades went with the same team that started in the 3-1 semi-final victory over Italy.
Spain started in high spirits, but Germany soon regained their composure to outplay their rivals in the first half.
After the break, Spain came out of the changing room more determined to attack in the second half, but the closest they came to equalising was a left-footed curler from Saul Niguez that was saved by Julian Pollersbeck.
At the other end, Meyer put through Serge Gnabry who failed to beat Arrizabalaga with a low shot.
Dani Ceballos then blasted a shot just past the post while Gerard Deulofeu's shot was cleared by the German defence which easily survived the inefficient Spanish pressure of the final minutes.
[With AFP]
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe