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KABUL (SW): Germany survived a whirlwind assault by Chile and capitalised on a mistake by the South Americans to claim a 1-0 win in a pulsating, bad-tempered Confederations Cup football final in the Russian city of St Petersburg on Sunday.
Lars Stindl scored the only goal into an empty net in the 20th minute after Chile midfielder Marcelo Diaz gave the ball away on the edge of his own penalty area, Al-Jazeera reported.
It came completely against the run of play in a first half dominated by Chile, but the more experienced South American champions – facing a youthful, experimental German side – could find no way past a team that is effective on the counterattack. Chile, playing with their trademark high-octane style and driven forward by another relentless display by Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal, dominated the match but were let down by poor finishing.
Despite dominating for long spells, Chile failed to turn 61 percent possession and 20 shots – compared with the Germans' eight – into goals.
The victory was a first Confederations Cup trophy for Germany who next year in Russia will be seeking back-to-back World Cup titles. The win could be a bad omen for Germany, however, as no team has ever won the football World Cup after lifting the Confederations Cup the year before.
ENDS
