Soaked Low praises Germany’s rising stars

JOACHIM Low has hailed Germany’s next generation of stars after beating Chile 1-0 in Sunday’s Confederations Cup final – but he says the challenge is to defend the World Cup next year.

Lars Stindl’s simple tap-in was enough to seal Germany’s victory in Sunday’s final in St Petersburg as the youthful world champions lifted the Confed Cup for the first time.

Germany’s head coach cut a soggy figure at the post-match press conference when his players stormed the stage and showered him in beer.

“I am immensely proud of this team. We have only been together for three and a half weeks,” said Low in a beersoaked shirt. “You could feel something was happening in training, we came together and it’s a really deserved win.”

Low took a gamble by leaving first-choice stars like Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng, Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil at home and bringing inexperienced youngsters to Russia.

Germany’s captain Julian Draxler was voted the player of the tournament and striker Timo Werner finished as the top scorer in Russia with three goals and two assists.

German football has a bright future after their U21 team were crowned European champions on Friday in Poland.

However, head coach Low says the hard work for his rising stars is just beginning as they bid to earn a place in “die Mannschaft’s” squad for next year’s World Cup. Only three of the Confed Cup winning team – Jonas Hector, Joshua Kimmich and Julian Draxler – are first-choice starters.

“Despite our success here and with the juniors in Poland, we’ll still have to reconfirm our victories next year [at the World Cup], but the job starts now, the work is just beginning,” Low said. “The young ones are only just coming up.

“They have done well, but staying at the top is another matter and we will have to work hard to defend our title next year.”