Final Piala Konfederasi : Jerman tutup mulut pengkritik | Germany 1 Chile 0

SKUAD muda Jerman memberi amaran awal menjelang Piala Dunia 2018 di Rusia tahun depan apabila mempamerkan taring mereka selepas melakar kejutan muncul juara Piala Konfederasi 2017 di St. Petersburg, Rusia semalam.

Kejayaan itu juga menutup mulut pengkritik sebelum kejohanan berlangsung kerana jurulatih Jerman, Joachim Loew membariskan pemain muda yang kurang pengalaman, namun sebaliknya berlaku apabila mereka menewaskan Chile 1-0 pada aksi final semalam,

Pemain tengah, Lars Stindl muncul wira apabila menjaringkan gol tunggal sekali gus membantu Jerman meraih kejuaraan pertama selepas kejohanan itu diperkenalkan pada 1992.

Bayern Munich team-mates Joshua Kimmich and Arturo Vidal clash in the second of the Confederations Cup clash

“Ramai pemain kami yang belum pernah beraksi di pentas final. Saya pasti mereka tidak akan melupakan kemenangan ini seumur hidup mereka. Ia merupakan satu perlawanan sukar kerana Chile adalah sebuah pasukan yang hebat,” ujar Loew.

Joachim Low has set Germany up perfectly to defend the World Cup next year in Russia

Chile finished as runners-up after missing an abundance of chances in the 90 minutes

Chile tops Bolivia on controversial last-gasp penalty kick

Chile and Bolivia's Copa America Group C battle devolved in to chaos Friday night, with Arturo Vidal's 100th-minute penalty after a controversial call the decisive strike in a 2-1 win for La Roja.

Vidal scored twice, sandwiching a remarkable free-kick strike from Bolivia's Jhasmani Campos to account for the scoring. The latter stages of the match also saw Bolivia's Ronald Eguino take a bicycle kick directly to the head from Eduardo Vargas. It appeared that Eguino was knocked out, perhaps even before he crashed into the ground, yet Bolivia sent him back into the match moments later.

The game, which was controlled by Chile, went into halftime at 0-0, but it didn't take long for action to pick up. Chile took the lead through Vidal in the 46th minute with him working a combination with Mauricio Pinilla before finishing from the center of the box.

Bolivia answered soon after, and in spectacular fashion. Campos, just into the game in the 58th minute, bent a phenomenal free kick from distance by Claudio Bravo and into the upper left-hand corner of the next to equalize in the 61st.

Chaos ensued after Luis Gutierrez was whistled for a handball deep into stoppage time. It appeared that the assistant referee was the one who made the call, but it also appeared that Gutierrez had tucked his arm behind his back and the ball hit off his shoulder. No matter, Vidal stepped up and converted the penalty to secure the three points for Chile.