Germany coach Joachim Löw predicted the match against Chile would be a tough challenge for his young team. The South American champions belong to the “elite of world football” and are “one of the best tactical teams in the world,” said Löw at the pre-match press conference. And Julian Brandt added: “All of us will have to push ourselves to our limits.”
The experienced Chile team included stars Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal). As usual, the Werkself pro Charles Aránguiz was in the starting line-up.La Roja made the brighter start in front of 38,000 supporters in Kazan. A misplaced pass from Shkodran Mustafi was intercepted by former Leverkusen player Arturo Vidal and he provided the assist for Alexis Sanchez to put Chile 1-0 up on six minutes.
Can sets up equaliser
Germany found it difficult to get into the game and were unable to play their usual passing game with the South American side closing them down and putting in aggressive challenges. Eduardo Vargas almost doubled the lead on 20 minutes but his rifled shot from 22 yards out hit the underside of the bar to the relief of Marc-André ter Stegen.
Germany did shake off the Chileans just before the break with an excellent move. Emre Can picked out Jonas Hector on the wing with a great pass and his cross was converted by Lars Stindl to level the scores at 1-1 on 41 minutes.
The second half did not match the intensity of the first 45 minutes. Neither side created any clear-cut chances. Germany had more of the ball and were able to compete on equal terms for the rest of the game.
Chile and Germany lead the group with four points each. At the same time, Cameroon and Australia are still in with a chance of going through to the semi-finals.
The next matches involving Bayer 04 players in the Confed Cup and the U21 European Championships are on Saturday and Sunday. Mexico play Russia in the Confed Cup at 17.00 CET on Saturday. The U21s have their final group game against Italy at 20.45 CET. Sunday at 17.00 CET is the kick-off time for the Confed Cup games between Germany and Cameroon plus Chile and Australia.
Bayer 04 will have to manage without the Chile international Charles Aránguiz in the forthcoming training weeks.
Show more
Time off for the Bundesliga but football is still being played: Following the 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen at the weekend, several Bayer 04 players are now on international duty. Eleven are on the road with their national teams.
Show more
The Werkself will be in pot 3 when the draw is made for the group stage of the Champions League on 25 August. That means the Seoane team will face some stiff opposition. Also in today's news in brief: Black and Red supporters can vote for their Player of the Season up to Sunday 5 June, and a former Werkself striker celebrates his birthday.
Show more
The first international players are back in Leverkusen, head coach Gerardo Seoane talks about the international break to the media, and important information on travel for the home game against Hertha Berlin on Saturday 2 April (kick-off: 15.30 CEST) – that and more in Thursday's news in brief.
Show more
The Werkself duo on the road remained unbeaten in their final World Cup qualifiers in the current international break: Chile, with Charles Aránguiz, beat Bolivia 3-2, Piero Hincapie played for Ecuador in a 1-1 draw with Peru.
Show more