Confederations Cup: Germany keeps cool to down Chile in final
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA— Germany’s young players got a rough guide to winning a major tournament and proved up to the challenge in a physical Confederations Cup final that threatened to boil over on Sunday.
A tough Chile side tried to intimidate the Germans in a forceful South American style not often seen in Europe.
Germany stood up to the test, defending an early lead for a bruising 1-0 win to accelerate its education ahead of its World Cup title defence. Lars Stindl scored the only goal in the 20th minute when Chile midfielder Marcelo Diaz lost the ball on the edge of his own area.
“We’ve been literally fighting for every single ball, every single metre to defend our 1-0 lead,” said Germany coach Joachim Loew, describing Chile as “very robust.”
Loew’s instinct to protect his players in an aggressive second-half led him 10 metres on to the pitch when Emre Can was crowded by a group of Chileans.
The coach earlier saw one of his most inexperienced players, forward Timo Werner, felled by the left elbow of Gonzalo Jara. The rugged defender got just a yellow card despite it seeming intentional on video replays that were reviewed by the match officials.
“I think if a referee sees that, he should and could have dismissed him,” said Loew.
A testy six-minute, second-half spell for Germany’s Joshua Kimmich saw the 22-year-old wingback clash with his Bayern Munich teammate Arturo Vidal, get pushed by defender Gary Medel and tangle with Jean Beausejour.
“The South Americans are playing very tough,” Germany defender Antonio Ruediger said.
Chile’s physical tactics did not stop when play paused and a Germany player’s game was over.
On being substituted late in the game, Werner and Leon Goretzka each got a shove to hurry them off by Medel and Jara, respectively.
A relative veteran at 23, Liverpool midfielder Can replaced Werner and soon got into a wrestling match with four Chile players.
Can’s lone raid deep into Chile’s half ended when he fell on the ball and held it tight. In the scramble that followed, Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo ran from his area to manhandle Can. Both were shown yellow cards.
“It’s a final and that’s the reason why the game is played at high intensity,” said Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi. “The players are nervous on the pitch and it’s difficult to control that sort of situation.”