Young talent power Germany past Mexico and into final

SOCHI, RUSSIA— Leon Goretzka scored two quick-fire early goals on Thursday as Germany beat Mexico 4-1 to reach the Confederations Cup final.

Exploiting Mexico’s defensive frailties, Joachim Loew’s inexperienced squad was 2-0 up within 10 minutes.

Loew is using the squad to assess his pool of talent, and this one could end the tournament with more sil- verware for the world champions if it beats Chile on Sunday in St. Petersburg.

All three German scorers in the southern Russian resort of Sochi 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 convincing 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.

“They have bonded together as an excellent team,” Loew said. “They are fighting for one another and collectively they have won.”

Mexico will now head to Moscow to play Portugal in the third-place match on Sunday after paying the price for affording Germany too much space to cut through its ragged defence.

“We didn’t have a good start of the game, and they took advantage,” Fabian said.

“We have to acknowledge that we dared to play as equals.

“Sometimes adrenalin plays a trick on us. Sometimes we make mistakes that they take advantage of. We have to learn to be effective and take advantage of their mistakes.”