DieMannschaft of Deutschland Sneeze Past Australis

World Champions Germany got their FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 campaign off to a solid start with a 3-2 win over Australia at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi in front of over 28,000 fans.

Julian Brandt was bright throughout and it was his run and cutback that teed up Lars Stindl to open the scoring, with his first goal for Germany. Joachim Low's side were momentarily punished for not increasing their lead after concerted pressure, as Tom Rogic's shot squirmed underneath Bernd Leno to level matters. Within five minutes, Leon Goretzka was brought down by Massimo Luongo in the Australian penalty area and captain Julian Draxler stepped up to slot the ball home, sending Maty Ryan the wrong way.
After the break, Joshua Kimmich's lovely dinked through ball teed up Goretzka to extend the German lead, before Leno spilled a deflected Rogic shot into the path of Tomi Juric, whose goal was validated by a VAR review. Substitute Timo Werner later hit the post as Germany controlled proceedings despite the slender lead. The Socceroos then had a string of late chances to equalise, but Germany held out.

Australia next face Cameroon, who lost 2-0 to Chile in their opening game, in Saint Petersburg on Thursday with both teams needing a win in their bid to reach the semi-finals.

Photo Credit: fifa.com