Die Mannschaft victorious over La Roja in Confederations Cup Final
For 90 minutes, Germany and Chile gave it their all; with the ball finding the back of the net once.
As expected ‘Germany vs. Chile’ was a match of epic proportions
In twenty minutes, Lara Stindl nailed the only goal of the match. It was nothing facy in terms of scoring. Chile didn’t defend properly and they paid the price.
For the remainder of the match, Die Mannschaft and La Roja were at a deadlock. In total, Chile had 65.8% possession. In addition, Chile won 54.2% of the duels. The problem was that Chile failed to capitalize.
When Chile was in scoring range, either Marc-Andre ter Stegen blocked the shots or they just choked on each one. The best chance came at 84 minutes. Sagal received the ball from Puch; but Sagal launched the ball into the heavens, along with the draw.
On every chance, the German’s defense literally blitzed when Chile went on the attack. That led to nonstop interceptions and counterattacks. In similar fashion, they also didn’t capitalize on those counterattacks. When Germany was in scoring range, all of the attackers were marked by the Chilean defense. Each pass and run was a gamble.
This was Alexis Sanchez vs. Stegen
Whenever Sanchez did manage to get within range for a shot or pass, it was him vs. Bracelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen. They put each other to work; but Stegen was too much for Sanchez.
Youth prevailed over veterans
This is something that we learned from Germany’s floor wiping of Mexico. The key to this victory was the youth. As mentioned, their defense was literally blitzing to regain possession and go on the counterattack. This is what got Mexico eliminated and Chile did nothing to adjust themselves for this match. That is why Arturo Vida and Alexis Sanchez were ineffective; they didn’t know how to work against that unpredictable defense.
So; in heartbreaking fashion, Chile failed to nail a third straight championship. Germany remain at the top of the food chain. Now; we wait for the 2018 World Cup.