ST.
PETERSBURG, Russia —
Germany capitalized on an awful mistake and survived a whirlwind assault by Chile to claim a 1-0 victory in a pulsating, bad-tempered Confederations Cup final on Sunday.
Germany capitalized on an awful mistake and survived a whirlwind assault by Chile to claim a 1-0 victory in a pulsating, bad-tempered Confederations Cup final on Sunday.
Germany,
which won the title for the first time, got the only goal of the game
from Lars Stindl in the 20th minute when Chile midfielder Marcelo Díaz
gave the ball away on the edge of his own penalty area.
“I’m
immensely proud of this team, because they have been together for only
three and half weeks,” Germany’s coach, Joachim Löw, said.
Löw
brought a young, experimental team to the competition, leaving behind
players such as Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos
and Thomas Müller. The average age of the German team at the
Confederations Cup was just over 24, compared with an average of over 30
for Chile.
“The
fact that these young players have won this tournament makes it an
historic achievement,” Löw said. “It’s unique in Germany’s history, it’s
outstanding.”
Chile,
playing with its usual high-octane style and driven forward by another
relentless performance by Arturo Vidal, dominated the match but was let
down by poor finishing.
The
game featured missed chances, defensive miscues, scuffles and two video
reviews, including one that produced a controversial decision in the
second half.
Chile
defender Gonzalo Jara elbowed Timo Werner by the sideline and the
Serbian referee Milorad Mazic, alerted by the video assistants, let Jara
off with a yellow card instead of a red. Shortly afterward, Mazic
turned down Chile’s appeals for a penalty and stood by his decision
after another review — and booked Chile’s Eduardo Vargas for drawing an
imaginary television screen.
It
was a remarkable achievement for Germany to lift the trophy with such a
relatively inexperienced squad, although it could also be a bad omen:
No team has won the World Cup after winning the Confederations Cup the
year before.
Alexis
Sanchez had a golden opportunity to put Chile in front early, but he
shot wide from close range after German goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen
parried a shot by Vidal.
Germany
struck almost immediately after when Díaz, turning away from Stindl on
the edge of his penalty area, lost the ball to Werner, who drew the
attention of Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and slipped the ball across
to Stindl for an easy tap-in.
Chile
kept missing chances and nearly gave Germany another goal before
halftime when Jara lost the ball on defense, but Bravo saved Leon
Goretzka’s shot.
In the third-place match in Moscow, Portugal fought back from a one-goal deficit to beat Mexico, 2-1, in extra time.
Facing
defeat at the end of the 90 minutes, Portugal sent the game into extra
time with Pepe’s volley. Adrien Silva won the game with a penalty kick
in the 104th minute after Miguel Layún’s handball.
