ABUJA (Sundiata Post) World champions Germany has secured a first Confederations Cup title with its very young squad after victory against Copa America winners Chile in Sunday’s final in St Petersburg.
Lars Stindl hit the first-half winner following a mistake by Marcelo Diaz.
Chile’s Arturo Vidal and Angelo Sagal both blazed over the bar in the closing stages.
Germany’s Timo Werner was elbowed by Gonzalo Jara, who escaped with a yellow card despite the use of the video assistant referee (VAR).
Earlier, Adrien Silva scored an extra-time penalty as Portugal recovered from a goal down to beat Mexico 2-1 in the third-place play-off in Moscow.
Luis Neto bundled into his own net to hand Mexico the lead, but Pepe stabbed home a stoppage-time equaliser to force an extra 30 minutes at Spartak Stadium.
Having seen their team win the European Under-21 Championship in Poland on Friday, Germany’s fans can celebrate another impressive tournament victory 12 months before they launch the defence of their world title.
Their success in Russia has been achieved without a number of players who helped beat Argentina in Rio three years ago to be crowned world champions.
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, midfielders Mesut Ozil and Toni Kroos, and forward Thomas Muller have been rested before next summer’s World Cup.
That has allowed a new generation to come to the fore.
Midfielder Leon Goretzka, 22, has excelled while 21-year-old forward Werner has also shown he has a bright international future ahead of him.
BBC Sport