(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Rizwan Rehmat / The Peninsula
Saint Petersburg: World Cup champions Germany are just a win away from adding another global title to their over bulging trophy cabinet when they meet feisty rivals Chile in the final of the 2017 Confederations Cup today.
Chile, the two-time Copa America champions, won't be pushovers as they produced a fighting display against the Germans in a 1-1 draw 10 days ago.
Coach Joachim Loew's relatively inexperienced German brigade is brimming with confidence having thrashed Mexico 4-1 in a ruthless exhibition of controlled passing and aggressive attacks in the second semi-final of the Confederations Cup, the trial event before next year's FIFA World Cup.
In contrast, Chile relied on the brilliance of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo who stopped three penalties to power his country past European champions Portugal in the event's first semi-final that failed to produce a goal in the 120 minutes of regulation play.
For Germany, who raced to glory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup by playing effective yet daring football in Brazil, the final couldn't have come at a better time.
Attacking midfielder Leon Goretzka, who is just 22, hit two goals in the first eight minutes to stun Mexico in the semi-final on Thursday. Leipzig striker Timo Werner, 21, made it 3-0 before substitute Amin Younes, 23, netted Germany's fourth goal to complete a resounding win.
Marco Fabian reduced the margin of defeat for Mexico but Germany's 'young legs' had too much power for the South American giants.
Coach Loew, who opted not to bring his World Cup winning stars to the Confederations Cup, is a man feeling ready for another successful run.
"My players know there is work ahead but they are ambitious enough to beat Chile," Loew said ahead of the final.
"A lot of work has gone into our wins," the German coach said.
"We couldn't pre-empt this (reaching the final) as some players had little experience and you couldn't calculate how they'd react.
"We've become a team over the last few weeks. There's fun in the dressing room, but they aren't over the top," Loew said.
The German coach said he expects nothing short of a dog-fight in the final.
"Chile is the most powerful opponent in this tournament, we know them pretty well and we expect them to go for it in the final," he said.
"They will be going flat out to pull it off, as they are coming to the end of their season, and we will have to try and counter that," he added.
Loew added Mexico game was good preparation for the final.
"From the beginning, we did exactly what we set out to do we were very dominant and brilliant in the opening stages," Loew said of his team's 4-1 victory. "They pushed us back a bit in the second phase of the first half, which was to be expected, and we gave up a lot of ball. All in all, 4-1 is a great result.
"We wanted to go far, but this is nothing that we could have expected at the start of the tournament," Loew said.
In the opposite camp, Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi knows his team has the legs to last 120 minutes, if needed in the final.
Chile goalkeeper Bravo saved three times as his side defeated Portugal in a penalty shootout to reach the final three days ago.
The Copa America champions won 3-0 in the shootout after the teams finished goalless following 90 minutes and extra-time.
"We are happy to be in the final," Bravo said after stopping the three penalties.
"This is very important to us because it's like completing a very important cycle," Bravo said as Chile prepared for their third big football final. Chile have already bagged the last two Copa America titles. Coach Pizzi said: "We deserve to be in the final since we have made great efforts to be here. You saw our efforts in the semi-final. We did a great job. Now we want to perform well against an opponent at the highest level and win the tournament."
Pizzi said Chile expect Germany to hit them hard.
"We are preparing for a difficult match. We know they are confident about their abilities. We respect the German team. But in a match like this, you need to give your maximum effort," Pizzi said.
"That is the only option for the final," he said.
Pizzi praised the efforts of Bravo, the semi-final hero. "Even if you don't talk about his wonderful qualities, he has made great contributions in our victories over the years. He is always helping the team," Pizzi said.
What does Pizzi think of fans calling Chile one of the best teams in the world?
"It does not matter what people say. We just want to enjoy every day as we continuously demand the best from ourselves," Pizzi said.
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