Young Germany beats Mexico to reach Cup final
Just how much Leon Goretzka wanted to seize his opportunity in an experimental Germany squad became clear after only eight minutes against Mexico.
With two goals in the space of 109 seconds Thursday, Goretzka put the defensively ragged Mexicans on the back foot and set Germany on its way to the Confederations Cup final with a clinical 4-1 victory in Sochi, Russia.
Germany coach Joachim Loew is using the World Cup warm-up tournament to assess his pool of talent, resting all but three of his world champions from 2014. Hardware was never the priority. But the World Cup will have another trophy for company if Loew’s fledglings can beat Chile on Sunday in St. Petersburg.
Germany drew 1-1 with the South American champions in the group stage, recovering after conceding in the sixth minute — and learning from the lax start.
“Against Chile in particular we were caught off guard; we’d discussed that beforehand and implemented it well today,” Goretzka, 22, said. “After getting through the group stage, our objective was to reach the final. We’ve done that convincingly. Now we want to win the title and reward ourselves for our performances so far.”
All three German scorers were players making their tournament debuts. After Goretzka netted in the 6th and 8th minutes, Timo Werner and Amin Younes scored in the second half.
“They have developed really well,” Loew said through a translator in the Fisht Stadium. “Over these weeks, we have become a genuine team and that is important. They are very ambitious and yearning to be part of the national team.”
Despite the emphatic score line, Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was kept busy. There were 25 shots on goal but he only conceded in the 89th minute, when he was beaten by Marco Fabian’s long-range swerving shot.
“We didn’t have a good start of the game, and they took advantage,” Fabian said.
Ronaldo to skip third-place match: Cristiano Ronaldo left the Confederations Cup in Russia to join his twin sons who were born before the tournament. Ronaldo said on his Facebook page after Portugal’s semifinals loss to Chile that “I’m very happy to finally be with my children for the first time.”
Portugal lost a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw, and will be without its star player for the third-place match. That is Sunday in Moscow against Mexico.
SF Deltas sign Brazilian: The San Francisco Deltas signed striker Dagoberto Pelentier, one of the winningest Brazilian club players ever.
Pelentier’s five domestic titles trails only Pele’s six. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Pelentier, 34, will join the team following approval of his work visa.
“Dagoberto will bring a lot of experience to our roster. He’s a player who has won everywhere he has played,” said SF Deltas head coach Marc Dos Santos.
He is the fourth Brazilian player to sign with the Deltas in their inaugural season, joining Pablo Dyego, Reiner Ferreira and Jackson. With Dagoberto’s addition, the Deltas have now reached the maximum number of foreign players on the roster with seven.
Briefly: Goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez’s application to switch affiliation to the United States from Mexico has been approved by FIFA. Gonzalez has played for Mexico’s Under-20 and Under-23 teams. He was born in Edenton, N.C., and signed with FC Dallas in 2013 . ... In MLS action, David Villa scored his 11th goal of the season, Jack Harrison had his eighth and host New York City FC beat Minnesota United 3-1. ... New York Red Bulls midfielder Mike Grella will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.