By defeating Chile 1-0 in the Confederations Cup final, Germany have validated their status as world champions.
Joachim Low decided to give his starters a rare summer off and took a young squad with him to Russia, but the youngsters have repaid their coach’s faith in them by going through the whole tournament undefeated.
Despite their relatively young age, it was one of the older members of the squad who scored the only goal of Sunday night’s final, with 28-year-old Lars Stindl finishing off after Timo Werner picked Marcelo Diaz’s pocket just outside the Chile penalty area.
Another defensive error could have allowed Die Mannschaft to return to the dressing rooms at half-time 2-0 up, but Julian Draxler was denied by Claudio Bravo, the man who had been the semi-final shootout hero.
In the second half, La Roja pushed for an equaliser and Alexis Sanchez did dangerously burst into the box in the 75th minute, but he shot high under pressure from Sebastian Rudy.
The Arsenal man wanted a penalty and the referee did consult VAR, but stuck with his original decision.
Over the final 15 minutes the South Americans huffed and puffed some more, but it wasn’t to be for them and they will have to make do with a runners-up medal, because Germany are Confederations Cup champions.
