Top 5 Confederations Cup games of all time

The Confederations Cup has a short but complicated history. It started off as the King Fahd Cup and was organized in and by Saudi Arabia. The competition was contested under this name in 1992 and 1995; in 1997 the tournament came under the fold of FIFA and was named FIFA Confederations Cup. However, back then it was contested every two years. Since 2005, the tournament has been turned into a dress rehearsal for the FIFA World Cup as it is contested a year before and in the same country which is slated to host the planet’s greatest sporting extravaganza.

National sides have often expressed their displeasure as the tournament only seems to cause a hindrance to ongoing World Cup qualifiers as well as throws up unwanted injuries to key players. However, as a sporting spectacle that boasts of World Cup winners, and respective winners from FIFA confederation championships, it promises some quality contests.

A look back at the short history of the competition vindicates that stand. We have had some major teams taking on each other in closely contested matches, some major upsets and some breathtaking goals. Here is a list of the Top 5 matches we have seen at the Confederations Cup.

2005 Finals Brazil 4 – Argentina 1

The match was tipped to be the most exciting clash the Confederations Cup had seen so far. The two rivals going head-to-head in a mouth watering final. Brazil boasted of two of the great play-makers of the world in Ronaldinho, Kaka whereas Argentina had the likes of Esteban Cambiasso and Juan Riquelme. The match ended as a rather one sided affair with Brazilian flair triumphing over misfiring Argentina. The match saw Adriano grab his day under the sun with a match-winning brace.

1999 Final Mexico 4 – Brazil 3

Mexico and Brazil have shared a pulsating rivalry in the Confederations Cup and this was perhaps the apex of that rivalry. The competition was held at Mexico’s home soil and they made sure that they gave their people something to cheer for. Miguel Zepeda opened the scoring for Brazil early on in a game that saw 7 goals being scored in a tug-of-war that lasted the 90 minutes. Ronaldinho swept the competition’s awards but the final belonged to Mexico.

2009 Final Brazil 3 – United States 2

The United States sprung up a surprise in 2009 as they scraped through the group stages, nudging the Azzuris on goals scored. They defeated the going-to-be world champions Spain 2-0 in a match that saw them defending their goal with great determination. Still, they were definitely the underdogs going into the final. USA stunned the world as Dempsey and Donovan struck two lusty blows to silence the world and their critics. Going into halftime the USA were two goals ahead and were hoping to win their first major FIFA event but their hopes were smashed by a resurgent Brazilian side. Lucio’s 84th minute strike gave Brazil their second consecutive win in the tournament.

2009 Semi Final Spain 0 – United States 2

Another match from 2009, and featuring the United States again. Spain were a juggernaut, gathering momentum coming into this tournament. They were on a 35 match unbeaten run and were beginning to master their tiki-taka football. The United States were considered a chance entry into the final having suffered two drubbings in the group stages and having still made the cut. They proved their critics wrong in a memorable game that saw 19-year-old Jozy Altidore grab the limelight with an opener. Clint Dempsey made it 2-0 after a counter-attacking move initiated by Landon Donovan.

2005 Semi-Finals Argentina 1 – Mexico 1 ( Argentina won 6 – 5 on penalties)

One of the two great semi-finals of that year. The second one saw Brazil beat German 3-2. Meanwhile, this match went right down to the wire as both teams failed to score in the legitimate 90 minutes. The extra time then saw both the teams put themselves on the score board but there was no dividing the two teams. It went down to the penalties and after 5 legitimate kicks of the ball, the big screen read 10 green dots, 5 on each side. It took a heartbreaking miss from Osorio to decide the finalist as Mexico missed out.