DUSHANBE, 03.07.2017. /NIAT «Khovar»/. Germany edged Chile 1-0 in the final match of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Saint Petersburg late on Sunday night to win the trophy of the prestigious football organization’s tournament less than a year before the 2018 World Cup.

The score was unsealed in 20th minute by Germany’s 28-year-old midfielder Lars Stindl with a powerful and easy shot in the open net of the Chilean goal, following an assist from his teammate.

The statistics showed that team Chile was in over 63% possession compared to less than 40 of Germany, but the Chilean team failed to tie the score and went to locker rooms down 0-1 against Germany.

The heat was getting up with the minutes ticking off in the second half of the match and both leading players Arturo Vidal (Chile) and Joshua Kimmich (Germany) were handed the yellow cards for the rough play into 59th minute of the play.

Less than six minutes remaining Chile’s Gonzalo Jara was penalized by the referees for unfair sports behavior.

More yellow cards followed for both teams, which kept on pressing stubbornly with various offensives tactics for the victory and referees opted in favor of five added minutes to the match, which, although, spectacular, ended in favor of team Germany.

Germany reached the final of the 2017 Confederations Cup following the crushing 4-1 win over Mexico in the semifinal match, while team Chile edged current UEFA Champions Portugal 3-0 to earn the birth in the deciding game for the trophy in the penalty shootout.

This year’s FIFA Confederations Cup was held between June 17 and July 2 at four stadiums in Russia and they are Spartak Stadium in Moscow, St. Petersburg Stadium, Fisht Stadium in Sochi and the Kazan Arena in Kazan.

Initially, the participants in the 2017 Confederations Cup were hosts Russia, 2014 FIFA World Cup Champions Germany, 2015 Copa America Champions Chile, 2015 AFC Asian Cup Champion Australia, 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup winners Mexico, 2016 UEFA Euro Cup champs Portugal, OFC (Oceania Football Confederation) Nations Cup victors New Zealand and 2017 CAF Africa Cup of Nations Champion Cameroon.