Germany's Emre Can at the international soccer match between German and Slovakia in the WWK Arena in Augsburg, Germany, 29 May 2016. Photo: ANDREAS GEBERT/dpa

Emre Can and Germany seal Confederations Cup glory with victory over Chile

Emre Can was brought on as a second-half substitute as Germany beat Chile 1-0 to win the Confederations Cup on Sunday evening.

The showcase event was hosted at Russia’s Krestovsky Stadium, as the country continues its preparations for next summer’s World Cup.

Can wasn’t named in the four-time world champions’ starting lineup, with Joachim Low making just one change to the team that beat Mexico in the semi-finals.

Despite Chile starting the stronger of the two sides, it was Germany who took the lead inside the opening 20 minutes.

Marcelo Diaz lost the ball cheaply to rumoured Liverpool target Timo Werner, and he teed up Lars Stindl to tap the ball into an empty net.

An entertaining contest continued to ebb and flow into the second half, but despite Chile’s best efforts, their opponents once again displayed their knack of flourishing in big games.

Can was introduced with 78 minutes on the clock, with the 23-year-old replacing Werner to shore things up in the middle of the park.

He managed to ruffle a few feathers late in the day after refusing to give the ball back to Chile after committing a foul, but it displayed his winning mentality in pleasing fashion.

Germany held out despite a few nervy moments in the dying seconds, sealing their first ever Confederations Cup triumph in the process.

Can will now enjoy a long overdue summer holiday, and will return to Melwood later than the rest of the squad, who begin to reconvene on Wednesday morning.

Last week Can sung the praises of new midfield teammate at Liverpool Mohamed Salah and says he’s been checking out the Egyptian international’s impressive record with Roma.

“I am really looking forward to it because he’s a really good player,” he is quoted by Goal as saying.

“Yesterday or the day before I saw the stats for him from last year in Italy.

“I think he will be a very good player for Liverpool.”

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