ST PETERSBURG - Germany survived a whirlwind assault by Chile and capitalized on an awful mistake by the South Americans to claim a 1-0 victory in a pulsating, bad-tempered Confederations Cup final on Sunday.
Germany won the title for the first time after Lars Stindl scored the only goal in the 20th minute when Chile midfielder Marcelo Diaz gave the ball away on the edge of his own area.
Chile, playing with their trademark high octane style and driven forward by another relentless display by Arturo Vidal, dominated the match but were let down by poor finishing.
A dramatic game featured missed chances, defensive howlers, scuffles and two video reviews, one producing a highly controversial outcome in the second half.
Chile defender Gonzalo Jara elbowed Timo Werner by the touchline and Serbian referee Milorad Mazic, alerted by the video assistants, let him off with a yellow card instead of a red.
Shortly afterwards, Mazic turned down Chilean appeals for a penalty, stood by his original decision after another review incident and booked Eduardo Vargas for drawing an imaginary television screen.
It was a remarkable achievement for Germany to lift the trophy with a young, experimental squad, although it could also be a bad omen as no team has ever won the World Cup after winning the Confederations Cup the year before.
"The fact that these young players have won this tournament makes it an historic achievement, it's unique in Germany's history, it's outstanding," said Germany coach Joachim Loew.
OPEN GOAL
Chile flew into the game in their inimitable style and Alexis Sanchez should have put them in front, but shot wide from close range after keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen parried Vidal's shot.
Germany struck almost immediately as Diaz lost the ball on the edge of his penalty area to Timo Werner who slipped it through for Stindl to score into an open goal.
Chile kept missing their chances, continued to look vulnerable on the break and nearly gifted Germany another goal before halftime when Jara gave the ball away in defence, but this time Claudio Bravo saved Leon Goretzka's shot.
Germany were happy to contain Chile and play on their mistakes in the second half, although they were living dangerously at times.
Substitute Angelo Sagal scooped the ball over the bar from close range and Ter Stegen pushed away an Alexis Sanchez free kick in almost the last action of the game.
"We put our ideas into practice," said Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi. "We took the initiative, we took control and created chances.... but because of one of those things, those accidents, that happen in football, it was our turn to lose."
(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Ken Ferris)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
ST PETERSBURG - European champions Portugal comfortably dispatched New Zealand 4-0 to reach the Confederations Cup semi-finals on Saturday after Cristiano Ronaldo set them on their way with a penalty.
Portugal's all-time leading scorer swept the ball home in the 33rd minute, his 75th goal for his country, and Bernardo Silva added the second four minutes later.
A solo effort from Andre Silva, his eighth goal in 11 appearances, in the 80th minute and a stoppage-time goal from substitute Nani completed the scoring.
It was a typically efficient performance from Portugal who never looked in real danger despite a sluggish start.
However, it was not all good news as Bernardo Silva went off injured at halftime, while a needless and reckless challenge from Pepe, with his side 2-0 up, earned the controversial central defender his second yellow card of the tournament, ruling him out of Wednesday's semi-final.
"It was an odd game - we were in control, but they started creating problems, and if it had got back to 2-1, it could have got complicated," said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.
New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic, who helped Unterhaching win promotion from the German fourth division last season, kept the score down with a superb second-half display.
The Oceania champions were far from disgraced but have now competed in the tournament four times without winning a game and have an overall record of 11 defeats and a draw in 12 matches.
Even so, coach Anthony Hudson was proud of his side, who refused to shut up shop in the second half.
"We know we've played some really good football at times. We never stopped. We created chances, we put them under pressure, so we could have got a little more out of this tournament," he told reporters.
"This team are on the right path, they have got great character, great belief and it's a young team moving in the right direction."
Portugal topped Group A with seven points from three games, ahead of Mexico on goal difference after the CONCACAF champions beat hosts Russia 2-1. New Zealand finished bottom of the group after losing all three games.
Ronaldo had already headed against the crossbar before firing Portugal ahead after Danilo went tumbling under a challenge from two defenders and the referee pointed to the spot without asking for a video replay.
Bernardo Silva turned Eliseu's low cross into the net four minutes later, although he suffered a knock on the ankle in the process.
Marinovic made impressive saves to deny Ronaldo, Andre Silva and Nani but was powerless stop Andre Silva when he collected the ball on the halfway line, ran at two defenders who backed off, and fired his shot into the far corner.
Nani completed the scoring with his 25th international goal.
(Writing by Brian Homewood, editing by Ed Osmond, Neville Dalton)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
