Germany reaches Confed Cup semis amid more replay confusion

SOCHI, RUSSIA » World champion Germany reached the Confederations Cup semifinals on Sunday with a 3-1 victory over a Cameroon side reduced to ten men after further confusion with experimental video replays.

Germany was leading through Kerem Demirbay’s 48th-minute strike when a case of mistaken identity halfway through the second half that replays were meant to eradicate left the African champions bemused and irritated.

Sebastien Siani was dismissed for a foul challenge on Emre Can after referee Wilmar Roldan inspected a pitch-side monitor.

It took furious protests from the Cameroon players, including Siani sarcastically applauding Roldan, for the Colombian to check the monitor again and discover he had sent off the wrong player. Siani was called back on and Ernest Mabouka was correctly sent off.

“The referee did not give any explanation,” Cameroon coach Hugo Broos said through a translator. “It’s a foul, fair enough but both players had their legs high up to reach the ball. I don’t understand why only my player received a red card.”

Germany extended its lead two minutes after the red card courtesy of a diving header from Timo Werner. There were flickers of a comeback by Cameroon when Vincent Aboubakar’s flicked header slipped through Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s raised hands. But Werner netted again in the 81st minute to secure a 100th victory for Joachim Loew in his 150th match in charge of Germany.

By securing top spot in Group B of the World Cup warm-up tournament, the inexperienced Germany squad playing without many of its 2014 World Cup winners will now stay in the Black Sea resort of Sochi and play Mexico on Thursday.