Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts

Monday, 3 July 2017

Germany won FIFA Confederations Cup 2017

Germany survived a whirlwind assault by Chile and capitalized on an awful mistake by the South Americans to claim 1-0 victory in a pulsating, bad tempered Confederations Cup Final. Germany won the title for the first time after Lars Stindl scored the only goal in the 20th minute when Chile midfielder Marcelo Diaz gave the ball away on the edge of his own area.
Chile, playing with their trademark high octane style and driven forward by another relentless display by Arturo Vidal, dominated the match but were let down by poor finishing. A dramatic game featured missed chances, defensive howlers, scuffles and two video reviews, one producing a highly controversial outcome in the second half. Chile defender Gonzalo Jara elbowed Timo Werner by the touchline and Serbian referee Milorad Mazic, alerted by the video assistants, let him off with a yellow card instead of a red.

Shortly afterwards, Mazic turned down Chilean appeals for a penalty, stood by his original decision after another review incident and booked Eduardo Vargas for drawing an imaginary television screen. It was a remarkable achievement for Germany to lift the trophy with a young, experimental squad, although it could also be a bad omen as no team has ever won the World Cup after winning the Confederations Cup the year before.

On the other hand, Award list is also dominated by Germans. Julian Draxler won the Golden Ball Award, Claudio Bravo from Chile won the Golden Glove award and Timo Werner won the Golden Boot award. The young Germany team also won the FIFA Fair Play Award. On the other end, Germany beat Spain 1-0 to win the European under-21 championship.

Sunday, 18 December 2016

India won Junior Hockey World Cup

For the second time this year, Harjeet Singh junior India Men’s hockey team beat Belgium on the way to lifting a trophy. In its first such final in 15 years, India overwhelmed Belgium 2-1 to lift the 2016 Hockey Junior World Cup at Lucknow and became the second team after Gagan Ajit Singh colts in 2001, to get their hands on the most coveted title.
On the biggest day for Indian junior men's hockey since the class of 2001 claimed the Junior World Cup, Harjeet's dominating Indian team was put ahead within minutes when Gurjant Singh stunningly knocked one past Belgium goalkeeper Loic van Doren to give the colts a much-needed boost and an early lead. Up 2-0 by half-time following a Simranjeet Singh field goal, India never let off the pressure.

This win maintained India's 100% record in the tournament and underlined their status as rightful winners. Belgium, having stunned six-time champions and defending champions Germany 4-3 in a shoot-out in the semi-finals, were overawed in the initial passages of their first Junior World Cup Final. The start to this summit clash was electric and one-sided as India managed two shots and seven circle penetrations inside ten minutes. India were the faster side, and that was, ultimately, the difference.

Two saves from Dahiya were received with a tumultuous din, and each time India's offensive pack sped down the line it was with the unanimous expectation of another goal. A PC to Belgium with seconds remaining had no bearing on the result, and when the full-time whistle was blown, India's fans were truly given something unforgettable to cheer about - with Harjeet's unbeatable heroes ending a 15-year jinx to claim the Junior Hockey World Cup.