The summer of 2017 is proving to be a memorable one for the Germans with the national team beating Chile 1-0 in the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup. Germany have successfully added another jewel to their cabinet after a hard fought final against the Copa America champions in St. Petersburg. Winning the U-21 Euros and now the Confederations Cup can be said as a brilliant success story for the Germans who believed solely on their young, raw talent.
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Taking a relatively inexperienced side to Russia was considered to be surprising for many when Joachim Low had announced his squad last month. But it all turned out to be a grand success for Low and the DFB board as Lars Stindl's 20th-minute goal was enough to hand them the trophy.
The South Americans fought hard till the last minute and if it were not for their wastefulness, Claudio Bravo would have lifted the trophy instead of Julian Draxler. On that note, here are the five talking points from the final of the Confederations Cup between Germany and Chile:
#1 A sweet and deserving triumph
Chile started pressing from the word go and when Germany followed suit, the Chileans crumbled on crucial occasions which led to their downfall. Timo Werner and Lars Stindl put pressure on Marcelo Diaz which led the experienced midfielder to commit a crucial error that proved to the deciding moment of the game. This goal that came from that induced error helped the Germans settle and caused alarm bells to ring in the Chile team.
Chile had the majority of the possession but Germany countered with intent as their attackers along with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka switched lines well in between. They also defended with numbers at the back and when Chile gave it their all in the last 20 minutes, the men in White played with their patience which caused their opponents to lose their heads. That in turn, secured a famous and a deserving win for Germany.
#2 Chile's wastefulness proving costly
The back to back Copa America winners were searching for their third international trophy in as many years. They had a glorious chance against Germany to make history and were playing as confidently as anyone could in the final of a major international final. La Roja pressed with intent and created chance after chance as their through balls cut the German defence in half on numerous occasions. But they were horrible in the final third with every attacker squandering chances.
Arturo Vidal had a header that just missed the target while Charles Aranguiz hit one wide from 15 yards. Eduardo Vargas shot straight at the keeper on two occasions but the best chance of the game fell to the substitute Angelo Sagal who blasted one over the goal from six yards out.
If Chile had taken their chances well, a different storyline would have been scripted in Russia but at the end, the kids from Germany (average age in the competition less than 25) proved to be more than useful against the men from Chile (average age over 29).
#3 VAR again proving to be the centre of controversy.
Video assistance has been a debatable point in the footballing world and when it came to be used in the Confederations Cup, it became a big news. It proved to be handy in many previous games but in the final, the VAR failed to judge a simple decision in the second half. 20 minutes after the break, Javi Lara elbowed Timo Werner right in the chin but the referee could not spot that.
The video officials halted the play and took a close second look to find out that Lara had intentionally hit the Leipzig man. It was a clear red card offence but shockingly, the referee gave it just a yellow card to make the video referral completely pointless. Though more than the technology, it was the referee who was at fault here as he let the events around him get the better of him.
This incident gave light on the fact that despite technology hoping to improve the game, human error will always be a part that will remain.
#4 A bad game for Alexis Sanchez
While the Chilean's future is currently the hottest topic in the transfer market, Sanchez failed to fire on the pitch for his country. He and Vidal were expected to play the leading roles against an inexperienced German lineup. The Bayern midfielder played his part but Sanchez was not at his usual best.
The forward was guilty of overrunning with the ball in crowded spaces and he also chose a difficult option to pass rather than a simple one. He could not beat Joshua Kimmich on the left flank with Matthias Ginter also making life difficult for the Arsenal man. Chile's number 7 got a fine chance in the stoppage time but his free-kick was brilliantly saved from Ter Stegen.
After the disappointment of losing a final, the onus will be on Sanchez deciding his next move. Bayern Munich and Manchester City wait patiently for their target's arrival in England.
#5 A golden generation of German football is upon us
Germany had done a lot of research before sending this young team to Russia. This group of players had never played together before but in the past three and a half weeks, they gelled well and with great determination won the coveted trophy. The U-21 side also did their job by beating Spain in the final of the Euros. In all of this, the likes of Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller are not even counted with the major German stars being rested this summer.
One thing is for certain – manager Joachim Low will have a nightmare of a job to select a 23-man squad for the next year's World Cup from these exciting group of players. He said after the win over Chile that a pool of 50 players can get into the final German squad which is a massive victory for the German board and for their philosophy. It is an exciting era for the players and the supporters alike with Die Mannschaft ruling the world in almost every age group.
