The 2013 Confederations Cup

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MUSC4EVER

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So this is perhaps the only major football tournament this summer, it might not be the most prestigious competition but it should be good this year given the teams involved and it'll be interesting to see some of the stadiums and facilities that Brazil have completed before the World Cup next year, so here we go!...


If you don't know what the Confederations cup is this is an 8 team tournament for national teams, the teams are the holders of the six FIFA confederations championship (UEFA, CONMEBAL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC) along with the World cup winners and hosts to bring the number of teams up to eight, since 2005 the tournament has been held in the nation that will hold the World cup the next year.


Here are this years participants...

BRAZIL 2014 World cup hosts
SPAIN 2010 World cup winners
JAPAN 2010 AFC Asian cup winners
MEXICO 2011 CONCACAF Cup winners
URUGUAY 2011 Copa America winners
TAHITI 2012 OFC Nations cup winners
ITALY[/B UEFA Euro 2012 runners up
NIGERIA 2013 African Nations cup winners


The teams are in two groups of four, top two in each group go through to the semi finals with a final and 3rd/4th place playoff match

Group A

Brazil
Japan
Mexico
Italy

Group B

Spain
Uruguay
Tahiti
Nigeria

The tournament starts on the 16th with Brazil-Japan being the opening game, if your watching in the UK the competition will be shown on the BBC (BBC One and BBC Three)
 
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I haven't really payed much attention to this competition in previous years. Go Spain!
 
Dear God death group for Mexico. And seeing how they've been playing, they should just stay here.
 
Dear God death group for Mexico. And seeing how they've been playing, they should just stay here.

Pretty much...

I predict an embarassing Tournament for "el Tri"...

I'm even tempted to place some cash on "Caliente" for a Brazil 2014 no show...
 
Should be interesting to see some of the newly refurbished stadia at Brazil and see how the infrastructure copes...

...also Italy are taking part because UEFA need a representative, Spain won the euros last year but they also won the world cup and Italy were runners up in the euros, so Spain are representing FIFA and Italy UEFA...
 
The tournament starts tonight with Brazil-Japan kicks off 7.30pm UK time!...
 
Nah, coverage starts at 7:30, it kicks off at 8:00.

This competition has barely any hype surrounding it, I hope the teams don't treat each match as a friendly.
 
There's only the one match on tonight, there'll be two matches a day from tomorrow, Mexico-Italy at 7.45 and Spain-Uruguay at 11pm! Gotta love late night football!! :lol:
 
So, the first game is underway and Brazil are 1-0 up after a 3rd minute strike from Neymar.
 
what a boring match was Brasil vs Japan, i expected much more from both of them.

I thought it was a good game!

Excellent strike by Neymar for the first, Japan looked quite good at times but it was largely all Brazil, they needed a good start to the tournament and that's what they've got...
 
Am I the only person who thinks Brazil and Neymar are way overrated nowadays? This game was impressive, but again it was at home and against Japan. Not a knock on Japan's talent though because at least they made it to Confederations Cup while America has to sit on the couch and watch.
 
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sumbrownkid
Am I the only person who thinks Brazil and Neymar are way overrated nowadays?

Not at all. I honestly think Neymar will be a flop in Europe; from what I've seen, he can't play under any close pressure. Spain will be kinder to him than say England would've been, but I still expect he'll be pretty underwhelming.

And Brazil haven't impressed me for awhile.
 
I'm really enjoying mexico-italy.

Neymar it's a little bit overrated, but he is really amazing, i saw him live when he came to Chile for the Recopa Sudamericana, an amazing player to warch playing. He lost a penalty though haha.
 
Balotelli is acting like a spoilt child yet again, having temper tantrums when something doesn't go his way. I will be glad to see the back of him in professional football, but regrettably that's not going to happen for a few years yet.
 
Balotelli is acting like a spoilt child yet again, having temper tantrums when something doesn't go his way. I will be glad to see the back of him in professional football, but regrettably that's not going to happen for a few years yet.
His tantrums are hilarious though. Especially when he took off his boot and threw it when he didn't get the penalty :lol:
 
Surprised that this tournament is getting very small attention, given the majority of GTP members are from Europe.

I've watched all three games so far:
Brazil x Japan: Expected, Japan was not at it's best but our midfielders were impressive at defending and have much credit for the result, last ball was lacking though. To people saying that we are overrated, we're only 17th at the FIFA world ranking and to nearly everyone in internation media we're only in the run for the WC because we are hosting it. I'd say it's the contrary, we're underrated and I bet we'll make to the semis in the WC.

Italy x Mexico: Prandelli was very conservative against a team that did not show much defensive consistency, nor much creativity on the MF. Italy is still a work in progress and they'll surely improve in due time, but I expected more of the Mexicans. Fair win to the italians, though. Balotelli is awesome, not because he's a spoilt child, but because he's a proper modern center-forward.

Spain x Uruguay: To be honest, Vazquez just let Spain play. In an attempt to strengthen the midfield, Vazquez started with a more defensive stance, Forlán did not start the match, meaning that Uruguay would have no one to think their game and Suarez and Cavani would have to fight for the very scarce opportunities. Spain just made their possession game and toyed with the game as they wanted. Once Forlán and Lodeiro entered the field, the game changed. You can't just watch Spain play, you have to attack in block, pass quickly because they disarm in group and pressure their defenders. It takes a very well set up team and a lot of sweat to give the Spaniards a hard time, Vazquez killed any chances that his team had today.
 
with Vazquez you mean Tabárez?

Yes, you're right he sent the team out with the intention of not having the ball, and generally everybody does that against Spain and that's a mistake, it is possible to play against Spain, they are similar but not Barcelona.
Even though that Uruguay is having a really bad time in the SouthAmerican qualifiers i expected more from them today, Forlán it's a must, not like Cavani he never play in Uruguay like he does in his team.

Italy was far better than México, mainly because of Pirlo what a fantastic player.
México did nothing, only Dos Santos had the intention of doing something.

The tomorrows match it's going to be hilarous, i expect minimun 10-0 against Tahiti haha.
 
What was the score in the end for Spain-Uruguay? I went to sleep at around the 75 min mark when it was 2-0 Spain..
 
Ok thanks

Tahiti-Nigeria should be interesting tonight, its Tahiti's first ever major tournament match and they are 138 in the world rankings and only have 1 professional player!
 
Ok thanks

Tahiti-Nigeria should be interesting tonight, its Tahiti's first ever major tournament match and they are 138 in the world rankings and only have 1 professional player!

I bet they win.:lol: I bet they are watching the betting patterns for this match like a hawk.:D
 
They play against Spain later in the week!!

That'll be a HUGE miss-match!!
 
Ok thanks

Tahiti-Nigeria should be interesting tonight, its Tahiti's first ever major tournament match and they are 138 in the world rankings and only have 1 professional player!
Double figures maybe? Also, Nigeria are the weakest team that Tahiti have to play. If there is a double score figure against them, what will it be against Spain and Uruguay.
 
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