Low braced for Chile challenge

Joachim Low says Germany must apply more pressure to Chile in the Confederations Cup final if they are to beat "the most powerful opponent in the tournament".

Low's young side overcame Mexico 4-1 in the second semi-final in Sochi on Thursday to book a St Petersburg decider against the Copa America holders, who got past Portugal on penalties a day earlier.

Germany and Chile played out an evenly matched 1-1 draw in the group stage earlier this month, giving Low and his opposite number Juan Antonio Pizzi plenty to consider ahead of a re-match on Sunday with silverware on the line. 

"There's no doubt at all that Chile is the most powerful opponent in this tournament," Low told a news conference at Fisht Stadium.

"We know the Chileans pretty well. And I'm pretty sure they're going to go for it at full power. 

"Both teams before the first match have also done a lot of analysis and investigation into how we play and we did the same to them. 

"We know the Chileans are very flexible in their game organisation. They have been pursuing their own style for many years now, a very good and positive development. 

"We know that, we're going to be aware of that, of course. It's going to be a game of attrition I'm sure. There's going to be a lot of work on the defensive side. 

"We must apply more pressure up field to create more difficulties for them. In terms of the line-up, you cannot expect any major surprises. The same goes for Chile."

Mexico boss Juan Carlos Osorio felt the scoreline was somewhat harsh on his team, who were punished by the "efficiency" of Germany. 

"We knew it was going to be a difficult match," he said.

"The fact is that the way they attacked we couldn't stop them.

"On the other hand, I would say we deserved a better result. We have shown that we can get to the goal of our opponents but they are very, very efficient.

"Every time they got to our side they had a great opportunity to score. They played good transitions but we offered them too many spaces and too many opportunities to score.

"Our way of playing is very aggressive. We try to get forward all the time and we paid for that. 

"They are fair winners but the scoreline would seem to suggest they were way better and I don't think that was the case."