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The eighth edition of the Confederations Cup saw eagerly towards the World Cup of 2010 to be hosted by Africa. The African continent absolutely loves its football and the advantage of retrospect is that we can tell that the event was a success of massive proportions; the colour of the competition and the crowds made it a joy to behold.
The Confederation Cup on its own, too, produced a good footballing spectacle and a few upsets always make for great watching for the neutral. The team also saw some heavyweight sides qualify from their respective federations. Spain, Italy, Brazil were the favourites to begin with, and there were some surprises too, with New Zealand and Iraq qualifying for the competition.
The two groups formed for the competition were well balanced with two heavyweights, a potential dark horse and a ‘minnow’ in each. Group A saw Spain dominate the proceedings, as they comprehensively won all their group games leaving all the other teams languishing behind them; no wonder they were dominant in the 2010 World Cup. Fernando Torres continued his goal-scoring form from the Euro 2008 final which saw him score the winning goal and contributed three goals to the team’s success.
The fortunes have changed since then as he has just been able to make Del Bosque’s squad this year and is unlikely to play a major part in the tournament. He scored three goals along with David Villa who not to be left behind, matching the former Liverpool striker shot to shot. Meanwhile, South Africa who were at the competition in the capacity of hosts put in some consistent performances. They drew against Iraq, but scored twice against the New Zealand side, and that was enough to see them qualify to the semi-finals, much to the joy of the continent.
Meanwhile, the other group saw a mouth watering contest between Brazil and Egypt. The scoreline of 4-3 can only half-suggest the excitement generated by this contest. Interestingly, Kaka who opened the scoring for Brazil in that game has since drifted out of the squad. Brazil seemed to lift themselves after that game and murdered the USA and Italy 3-0. Italy’s demolition at the hands of USA meant that they were handed a rude exit, an occurrence that was not to prophesise their exquisite run in the World Cup of 2010, which saw them reach the finals. Italy’s exit meant that the United States were handed a golden chance to make their mark at a big FIFA competition.
The semi-finals lined up in favour of Brazil as they faced hosts South Africa but the match of the tournament came as Spain met the USA. Spain were on a 35 game winning streak, and there was perhaps no indication of an upset, but it happened as the USA smashed Spain 2-0 in a game that will perhaps be remembered with the visual of Clint Dempsey‘s opportunistic finish when Spain failed to clear the ball from the danger area. That was the USA’s biggest achievement as they reached the finals of the Confederations Cup, but unfortunately could not go past the round of 16 in 2010. They remain a team that is constantly improving, and will be a consistent fixture at FIFA events in the coming years.
Brazil’s fourth appearance in the Confederation’s Cup final was a successful one but their opponents USA grabbed all the limelight; the first time for them a FIFA event final. USA made a startling start as they caught Brazil napping with Clint Dempsey scoring his third goal of the competition in the 10th minute. Landon Donovan made it 2-0 with a fantastic goal that saw USA make a breathtaking counter-attack. Brazil looked lack-lustre going into the halftime. They returned with a lot of vengeance and the Americans could not hold their own against the fluidity of the Samba magic. Luis Fabiano was the star for Brazil with a brace and Lucio finished it off 6 minutes from time to allow Brazil to emulate their Confederations Cup win in 2005.
The imagination of the world this time around, as we approach the 2013 edition of the competition, has been captured by Spain who continue their juggernaut. This is a trophy they will be desperate for, and Del Bosque will leave no stone unturned to bag yet another victory for Spain in a top FIFA competition. On the other hand, defending champions Brazil are a team in transition. They have a lot of young blood that will be eager to express itself, but they will have to cope with the likes of Spain, Uruguay and Italy. Brazil, can sure, take some inspiration from 2009.
