Asante Kotoko started the stronger of the two sides and mounted pressure on the CARA defence immediately from kick off. Emmanuel Gyamfi won two quick corners which were both wasted.

Within the first 5 minutes, Kotoko had pinned CARA back and the constant pressure resulted in the first major incident of the game on 7 minutes.

Kotoko were awarded a penalty after a CARA defender handled the ball in the area. Sadick Adams, playing his first competitive game since the FA Cup final, stepped up and put his effort well wide from 10 yards.

The missed penalty appeared to have taken some momentum away from Kotoko as they struggled to create any clear-cut chances despite dominating possession. Sadick Adams shot a free-kick wide before Wahab Adams put a wild effort into the stands.

Kotoko found their rhythm again on the half-hour mark with Eric Donkor’s free-kick flying inches wide before Kwame Boahene’s super20-yard strike was tipped into the crossbar by Massa Chancel in the CARA goal.

But Kotoko’s incessant attacks almost cost them as Thouey Rox snuck in between Adams and Nafiu, raced into the penalty area and unleashed a carpet strike that seemed destined for the bottom left corner. But Felix Annan stretched full length to push it out with aplomb.

On the stroke of half-time, Amos Frimpong latched onto a loose ball from Baba Mahama’s corner but his effort was cleared off the line.

It summed up a frustrating first half for the Porcupine Warriors as CARA headed into the break the happier of the two sides.

The second half began much like how the first ended with Kotoko dominating without really created chances. On the 60th minute, Kotoko were awarded a penalty again after Kwame Boahene’s quick feet proved too hot to handle by Filanckembo Lopez who hacked him down on the box.

Captain Amos Frimpong stepped up, and put a feeble effort down the bottom right corner which Chansel collected without sweat. The fans were now truly in disbelief.  They were convinced it was not their day.

Moments later, Kotoko were awarded a third penalty, won by Kwame Boahene again. Baba Mahama elected himself and put it straight into the arms of Chansel. The disbelief had now reached monumental levels as Kotoko fans began to boo their own players.

But it could have been worse as CARA were given a penalty after Wahab Adams pulls down Espoie in the box after CARA broke forward. Chansel, who had saved 2 Kotoko penalties and was now full of confidence, chose to take it, but Felix Annan was not to be outdone as he saved brilliantly to his left.

Kotoko were desperately in need of a spark as coach Steve Polack brought on attackers Obed Owusu, Yakubu Mohammed and Sarfo Gyamfi for the ineffective Jordan Opoku, Eric Donkor Connor and Emmanuel Gyamfi respectively.

With six minutes of injury time left to play and Kotoko were awarded their third penalty and the fourth of the match. Yakubu Mohammed stepped up and smashed it past the keeper to give Kotoko a needed 1-0 victory ahead of the second leg in Brazaville in 10 days time.

By: Fentuo Tahiru/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Lars Stindl hit the first-half winner following a mistake by Marcelo Diaz.

Chile’s Arturo Vidal and Angelo Sagal both blazed over the bar in the closing stages.

Germany’s Timo Werner was elbowed by Gonzalo Jara, who escaped with a yellow card despite the use of the video assistant referee (VAR).

Earlier, Adrien Silva scored an extra-time penalty as Portugal recovered from a goal down to beat Mexico 2-1 in the third-place play-off in Moscow.

Luis Neto bundled into his own net to hand Mexico the lead, but Pepe stabbed home a stoppage-time equaliser to force an extra 30 minutes at Spartak Stadium.

Reaction from the 2017 Confederations Cup final

Germany’s future brighter than ever

Having seen their team win the European Under-21 Championship in Poland on Friday, Germany’s fans can celebrate another impressive tournament victory 12 months before they launch the defence of their world title.

Their success in Russia has been achieved without a number of players who helped beat Argentina in Rio three years ago to be crowned world champions.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, midfielders Mesut Ozil and Toni Kroos, and forward Thomas Muller have been rested before next summer’s World Cup.

That has allowed a new generation to come to the fore.

Midfielder Leon Goretzka, 22, has excelled while 21-year-old forward Werner has also shown he has a bright international future ahead of him.

It was Werner who seized on a moment of madness by Diaz to create the goal. The Chilean gave away possession on the edge of his own penalty area, allowing the RB Leipzig forward to square the ball for Stindl to tap home.

Germany should have doubled their lead before the break after another error. Jara’s lapse in concentration let in Goretzka but Claudio Bravo did well to spread his frame and block.

VAR is questioned… again

Fifa’s decision to trial the VAR system has led to a series of debatable moments throughout the tournament and the final provided one more.

Referee Milorad Mazic used a video replay to watch Jara’s challenge on Werner, and decided the elbow across the face from the Chilean was worthy of a yellow card and not a red.

The process took around four minutes, and while the technology was used properly, it shows that referee’s decisions are still open to interpretation and conjecture.

In the group stages, six “game-changing decisions” were made using VAR, along with another 29 “major incidents” – according to Fifa’s head referee Massimo Busacca. That is 35 decisions in 12 games.

There was controversy in Chile’s semi-final win, when Portugal defender Jose Fonte appeared to foul Francisco Silva in the box, but the referee did not award a penalty – or ask to see the incident again.

In the group game between Germany and Cameroon, the referee sent off the wrong player after watching a replay, before correcting the mistake following a second viewing.

And in Mexico’s group game against New Zealand, there was a long delay late in the game as the referee watched back a melee between players. He initially booked one player, before stopping the game again and booking two more.

Chile’s thoughts turn to World Cup qualification

Chile had 22 shots during a high-quality final yet failed to find the net and must now turn their thoughts to ensuring they return to Russia next summer.

Despite back-to-back Copa America successes, they are by no means assured of a place at the World Cup.

They sit fourth in their qualifying group and have work to do in the last four games to ensure they do not miss out.

Chile will have to cut out mistakes at the back and improve their poor finishing.

Before thrusting his elbow into Werner’s face, Jara gave the ball away carelessly in another incident, but Bravo saved his embarrassment by preventing Goretzka from making it 2-0.

Boss Juan Antonio Pizzi will be just as concerned at the terrible close-range misses by Vidal and substitute Sagal when Chile threatened an equaliser in the closing stages.

‘Even more special’

Germany captain Julian Draxler: “We fought well and deserved this win. We hadn’t played together before the tournament, which makes it even more valuable.

“Every title is special, but with this young team, it’s even more so. Now we can all go on holiday – and even take the trophy with us.”

Chile captain Claudio Bravo: “There was not much difference between the two teams.

“We are sad not to have won, but we played against a world-class team and must learn from our mistakes.”

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Source: BBC

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The Indomitable Lions will be keen to avoid a repeat of the tepid start to their opening game of the tournament which they lost to Chile.

“I hope we start the game better than we did against Chile.

“The first 20 minutes were almost disastrous and if we didn’t have a bit of luck on our side, we could have been 3-0 down.

“I hope against Australia that from the first second of the game we will seek to dominate,” the Cameroon coach told a news conference on Wednesday.

Cameroon lost 2-0 to Chile in Moscow on Sunday, eventually giving up two late goals, and with Australia losing 3-2 to Germany on Monday in the other Group B tie, Thursday’s clash in St Petersburg is a must-win for both countries.

“I’ve seen a few games of Australia and there is a lot of enthusiasm in the team, a fighting spirit, so it’s a very difficult team to play against.

“It’s a different style than three days ago when we played Chile.

“But again we’ll need to be on our highest level if we are to beat them, and we have to beat them to keep up our chances to go further than the first round.

“If we don’t have a victory against Australia it’s finished for us.

“We know what to do but it’ll be a tough game,” Broos added.

Cameroon have also been warned by the coach not to regard the match against Australia as the easiest of the three group games they play at the Confederations Cup in Russia.

“We have already been warned not to treat Australia as the lowest ranked side in our group and anyway, often that sort of ranking can be decisive,” added midfielder Sebastien Siani at the pre-match conference.

“Sometimes the team that is supposedly the weakest can upset the odds so we are not going to be complacent.

“We are taking it seriously because we know they also need a good result.”

Cameroon play their last game in Group B against Germany in Sochi on Sunday.

The top two in the group advance to next week’s semi-finals.

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Source: BBC

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