Confederations Cup
FreeEither due to most countries ending their seasons or due to the international commitments of teams, there are no worthwhile club games today, which is a pity. Instead, I’ve turned my focus to the International games, notorious for being shit odds and generally pretty predictable.
However, my preview today is non-existent; I can’t imagine you wanting to read about the game between Tanzania and New Zealand, to be honest! What I will be doing is previewing the Confederations Cup, which starts in approximately 12 days, so if you’re not interested, feel free to scroll down to the picks below.
The Confederations Cup is generally deemed a worthless competition and I don’t think that’s too far off the mark. Still, countries are taking their main squads out there so perhaps it will be a tad more serious this year. For those who don’t know what this competition actually is, it’s a competition that contains 8 nations. The 8 nations are selected because they are either champion of their own regional tournament (i.e. Spain are currently holders of the European Championships), world cup holders, or hosts. This year’s tournament in South Africa includes Spain, Italy, Brazil, Iraq, New Zealand, Egypt, South Africa, and USA. They are divided into 2 groups of 4, the top 2 sides qualify from the group which then forms two semi-finals thus leading to a final and a winner. Simple or what?! It’s a good job this competition is pretty worthless else Platini would no doubt rename it “Bronze Cheese Of Cannes Trophy” or something equally as irrelevant and irritating.
The groups are listed below:
Group 1 – South Africa, Iraq, New Zealand, Spain
Group 2 – USA, Italy, Brazil, Egypt
Some of these clashes will be more interesting than the majority of you expect, but I’ll go through that with you in due course. Below are introductions/previews to each side in the tournament and where I expect their tournament to end.
South Africa are this year’s hosts and to be honest, I don’t think it could have come at a worse time for them. I’ve not seen a South Africa side as bad as this one currently is. Gone are the big names of the past like Quinton Fortune, Mark Fish, Doctor Khumalo etc. All they have left is Benny McCarthy really so I don’t expect a massive showing from them. However, despite the above, I think they stand a good chance of qualifying for the next round because of the home advantage and because only one side in the group is better than them, in my opinion. Because of that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them come 2nd in their group before crashing out of the semi-finals against Brazil.
Iraq are a surprise name in this tournament. Some of you will be wondering why they’re even here, no doubt only having heard of them for the wrong reasons. However, this side played some excellent football in order to win the Asian Cup and managed to oust big names like Saudi Arabia and South Korea to win this tournament, so they’re certainly no walkovers. Their most redeeming feature is that they’re very compact; sides find it hard to play against them. For that reason, I’d recommend staying away from any handicaps when sides play against them, regardless of their opposition. I expect Iraq to make a valiant showing but ultimately to finish in 3rd place.
New Zealand enter the tournament purely because Australia decided to rewrite the laws of Geography and relocate themselves in Asia, thus now having to compete in the Asian Cup. To be fair, I can understand their reasons for this. Basically, what used to happen was that Australia would win its qualifiers for the World Cup before having one final hurdle to overcome; to beat the side that finishes 5th in the South American qualifiers. This side would almost always beat Australia because they’re just not as good as the likes of Uruguay, Colombia, and even Brazil on one occasion. So now New Zealand dominate the Oceania scene, which I don’t really have to emphasise how simple that is. The only notable player New Zealand can boast is Blackburn Rovers centre-back Ryan Nelsen. This isn’t enough for the side to finish anywhere in the group and I expect them to lose 2, if not 3 of their group games and finish bottom of the group.
Spain are a country that are just getting better and better. A good way to test the quality of a country’s football team is not to admire who they play but to be amazed by who they don’t play. The massive list of names that the Spanish team do not play or even call up is unreal, I assure you. Every single player in this squad would walk into any other squad in this group and probably in this tournament. Spain have way too much class and ability for this group. They’re taking a vast majority of first team players to the tournament and I expect them to demolish every side in this group, to beat Italy in the semi-finals before winning the tournament against Brazil.
USA boast an experienced side with a lot of ability that is always rising, rather worryingly. I certainly wouldn’t underestimate what this squad is actually capable of. Their main problem is that two of the best nations in the world are alongside them in their group, a group which they need to finish in the top 2 of to get out of it! For that reason, I can’t see USA making the semi-finals – I think they’ll battle their way into 3rd place in this group.
Egypt are a side that people are beginning to become aware of, but not nearly fast enough for my liking. People still look and laugh because they associate this side with pyramids and mummies etc. This side has been a formidable force for some years now. They don’t play football like your typical African side; they play cool, calm, collected and concise football with good tactics. They’re ruthlessly efficient if you allow them to be and will be a handful for each side they face in this group. Despite that, I do think they’ll finish bottom of the group because they’re in a horrific group, really. To top that off, arguably their two best players in Mido and Amir Zaki (if even named in the squad!) aren’t firing on all cylinders right when they need them to so I think they’ll wave goodbye to this tournament fairly swiftly.
Brazil. Hearing the name alone used to send shivers down your spine. The most successful footballing nation of all time naturally has a place in this tournament, as they do in most tournaments they’re eligible for, if not all. The samba men will bring an unnamed quality and flair to this tournament that no other country can emulate. With their squad there’s a wealth of class, experience and sheer ability. Their undoing tends to be the ease of which they concede goals and the unpredictability of when they do and don’t play well. However, I fully expect Brazil to win this group, beat South Africa in the semi-finals before losing an epic game to Spain in the final of the competition.
Italy are yet another massive name in International football having won numerous World Cups themselves. The Italians are an ageing side, however, and it’s beginning to show. At times during the European Championships, they were overrun and outclassed by sides like Holland and Spain, sides they consider to be their equals. Indeed, it seems at times that Andrea Pirlo is all that keeps this once great nation still ticking along. That said, you’d do yourself a massive injustice from a betting perspective to underestimate the current World Cup holders. They’re still capable of winning games and grinding out results. Unfortunately, like Brazil, they find it hard to keep sides out these days and the goals don’t come as easily as they used to. All that said, I think they’ll come 2nd in the group and crash out of the semi-finals as Spain outclass them yet again.
So that’s that! I expect Spain to leave this tournament with yet another trophy and if they play anywhere near as well as they did in the European Championships, they’ll thoroughly deserve it. As poor as the odds are, I think taking Spain at 6/4 to win the tournament would ultimately be fruitful.
Wednesday’s Picks
My tips:
I can only see one game with any value in today and that’s to take USA at 8/5 to win at Costa Rica. However, be wary with your punts because the hosts are no mugs and will certainly give a good game.
World Cup Qualifiers – North American section:
Costa Rica vs United States of America (8) 1-2
International Friendlies:
Bahrain vs Jordan (7) 2-0
Liechtenstein U21 vs Bosnia-Herzegovina U21 (7) 1-2
Bulgaria U21 vs Austria U21 (7) 2-1
Turkey U21 vs Azerbaijan U21 (9) 3-0
Antigua & Barbuda vs Guyana (8) 2-0
Tanzania vs New Zealand (6) 1-1
Enjoy your free betting tips!