Germany 3-2 Australia: World champs start Confederations Cup with narrow victory

Australia hung tough, but the Europeans were too much in the end

World champion Germany hung on to beat Australia on Monday in their Confederations Cup opener, 3-2. In Group B play, Germany led after just five minutes and the Aussies battled back, but Germany took all three points with Leon Goretzka's goal early in the second half. 

Here's how it went down:

Germany led 1-0 after five minutes through Lars Stindl, who finished superbly inside the box:

But Australia pulled level on 41 minutes, with Tomas Rogic finishing well at the top of the box off a deflection:

After Germany retook the lead three minutes later through a penalty kick goal from Julian Draxler, the Europeans grabbed the winner on 48 minutes through this effort from Goretzka. 

In the end, a youthful squad from Germany did just enough but got more of a fight from the Aussies than they thought. The result gives Germany three points in Group B, second behind Chile on goal differential. As for Australia, they're going to have to get a result against Chile and New Zealand to have a chance to move on.

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CBS Sports Writer

Roger Gonzalez is an award-winning writer based in Virginia that has covered pro soccer from Europe's top clubs to Argentina's first division. Roger started out his pro soccer writing career with Goal.com... Full Bio

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