Once Again Germany Are Champions

Borussia Monchengladbach striker Lars Stindl scored the only goal that made sure Germany beat Chile to lift the Russia 2017 Confederations Cup in St Petersburg. The striker took advantage of some woeful defending by Chile to fire the world champions ahead after just 20 minutes.
In a disjointed and bad-tempered second period, the South Americans could have found themselves down to 10 men after the intervention of the Video Assistant Referee just past the hour-mark. Gonzalo Jara's stray elbow caught Timo Werner flush in the face, but after consulting his monitor on the touchline, Serbian referee Milorad Mazic controversially handed out a yellow, rather than a red.


The Copa America winners had numerous chances to take an early lead at the Krestovsky Stadium, only to find Marc-Andre ter Stegen in inspired form in the German goal. The Barcelona goalkeeper had to be alert to keep out Vidal's close-range effort after just five minutes following a strong run into the area by Charles Aranguiz, although he was slightly fortunate a quarter of an hour later.

Chile found themselves behind after a terrible mistake by midfielder Marcelo Diaz, who failed to notice Werner lurking behind him on the edge of his own box. The forward robbed him of possession, before laying the ball across the six-yard box for Stindl to tap home his third goal of the tournament, and his second already against the South Americans after his equaliser in their group-stage clash.

It could have been worse for Chile though as that man Diaz was again caught napping on the ball, this time by Sebastian Rudy, who released Leon Goretzka down the right-hand channel of the area, only for the midfielder to flash a shot inches past the far post.