Confederations Cup 2009

Is anyone else watching it? I like South Africa's passing but they're lacking some objectiveness and definitely should use the wings more, everything is going through the middle and not getting anywhere!

Just ended, how disappointing... 2 great chances for a goal, 1 could have been a PK if the ref wanted but the striker kept going and didn't cut to the side. The other chance was going to be a goal but the other SA forward blocked the ball from going in from his teammate's header.

Iraq are a decent side tbh, only conceded 2 goals on their way to winning the AFC.


Spain just amazing in their match, got to be favourites for the title, pretty much full strength team as well.

I really hope Spain's success shows coaches around the world that a well distributed, offensive game gets the better results. It's true that Spain's been playing that way for a long time now and only recently they actually got the players at a decent enough level to make it work, but still it shows it is the way to go.

The past 3 or 4 decades show it isn't the way to go though. It's why most of football went to a flat-back 4 rather than having 2 wingers and 3 strikers, as was the case 50 year back.

It's going yet more defensive too with the move to a single striker, 3 in the middle and 2 wingers, with pace of attack being the critical factor rather than pace of the players.

Obvious cases like Brazil (and at the moment Spain) still shine out, but mainly as the players they have are far better throughout the squad than that of other countries.

We all love an attractive game, but there's far more to winning football matches than that.

If it's all about attacking football, then remove the reward for drawing. :P

Hehe, they started 3 points for a win instead of 2 to reward a victory :P. It's very flattering to see how the world sees Brazil's football, it never ceases to amaze me how humble people are! However our national team has really been a rollercoaster when it comes to how we play.

In 1994 we were very defensive but that was masqueraded a bit by having a defensive mid with a lot of quality, Mauro Silva, who could go up the field, and the genius of Bebeto and Romário that made up for a lot of midfield setbacks (Zinho, Mazinho, Raí.... ugh!).

In 1998 we were supposed to have Flávio Conceição, then a def. mid. with a good touch and that presented himself upfront, and Romário who wasn't called up due to internal politics (sadly a very constant thing with us , 2006 WC included). The team that went was playing well in a few games and Emerson was actually having a good performance! It was also Ronaldo during his prime (1996-1999, 2001-2003) but he was being violently attacked sometimes. Then the mental breakdown the team had with the big Ronaldo scare took it all away...

2002 saw a team that had mixed players so it kept a fresh look and there was again some quality in the def. mid. front with a young Gilberto Silva surprising everyone and leading the midfield (replacing the -luckily- injured Emerson), and Rivaldo-Ronaldo that year was just plain unfair against the opposition! Rivaldo to me was the best player of the WC, and Ronaldo showed he recovered from that 2nd horrific injury. However, since about 2006 Brazil hasn't showed a good consistent style. In the WC the team did more marketing and promo stuff than actual practice and we saw how Ronaldo and Adriano turned up (round). Ronaldinho lost himself to drinking and Robinho was stubbornly kept on the bench along with Cicinho, Brazil didn't deserve to win and had we won it would only have rewarded ugly football.

With Dunga as a head coach we had hopes of some good formations but he's shown us how stubborn he is. His reasoning for selecting some players leaves me in awe... and his clear bias for players from the south bothers a lot (the south has a more physical style of playing). The players in some positions of our national team are not our best players, they're not even 4th or 5th best, but they are there because Dunga wants to prove a point and because they play in a way he enjoys and that he played throughout his career.

To sum it allllll up, in some occasions we'll see some great plays from Robinho/Nilmar/Alexandre Pato/Kaká, in others we'll see the amazing setback that Kléber(or whoever he puts at left wingback)/Felipe Melo/Gilberto Silva/Elano/Diego cause to the team. I've always liked Spain (if you remember them in 1994 and their attitude... was great to watch! Also a young Luis Enrique was quite entertaining!) and since before WC 2006 I have been praising their style of play and thankfully the football gods rewarded them with that beautiful EURO Cup. David Villa is a brilliant player who in my book is worth more than Cristiano Ronaldo and even Fernando Torres, who is a great striker to sum it up. Doesn't get fancy nor tries to hide his lack of dribbling skill, he just uses his agility and speed to get a chance to shoot and the boy scores, the most important thing.

Also keep an eye for US x Italy, it may be painful .

Guimengo Wrote:
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> Also keep an eye for US x Italy, it may be painful
> .


Gianluigi Rossi is a traitor. Scum. Absolutely disgusting.


Lucky Seven Motorsport ***Winner-Zandvoort***
Drivers
Ross -the Rainmeister- Cartwright ***Winner-Zandvoort***
Keeley -GPGSL's sexiest member- Grant
Tester
Randy -The getting drunk in the motorhome-meister- Winston

And now Italy has lost to Egypt

So if we beat Egypt 8-0, and Brazil beats Italy 5-0, we advance.




So you're saying there's a chance?




Lucky Seven Motorsport ***Winner-Zandvoort***
Drivers
Ross -the Rainmeister- Cartwright ***Winner-Zandvoort***
Keeley -GPGSL's sexiest member- Grant
Tester
Randy -The getting drunk in the motorhome-meister- Winston

Hahahaha.

Brazil - 6pts, 5+ goals
Italy - 3 pts, 1+ goals
Egypt - 3 pts, 0
US - 0 pts, -5 goals


Brazil x Italy
Egypt x US

If Egpyt wins by 1 more goal than an Italian win, they'd grab the 2nd spot as they beat Italy in direct confrontation (and would be tied for goals). Brazil only doesn't qualify if Italy wins by 2 and Egypt by 4. US only qualifies if they beat Egypt 5x0 and if Brazil beats Italy by any score. Egypt qualifies with a draw if Italy loses.


Brazil played much better without Kléber/Daniel Alves/Elano! If only Dunga uses the same back line and possibly replace Gilberto Silva with Ramires and have Robinho/Nilmar/Pato upfront! Júlio Baptista, Elano, Daniel Alves and those other guys shouldn't leave the bench.

My word Italy are crap!
I support Italy, but let's be fair here, Egypt were by far the better team.
How Lippi can pick such a slow team, with the likes of Pirlo, Gattuso and De Rossi all playing together beats the hell out of me. They all do the same job pretty much, and none of the three are at all dynamic in pushing forwards and beating players. And playing them together in a four-three-three was pretty odd.
Italy's lack of width is embarassing. By the time Grosso and Zambrotta have got forwards all attacking momentum is lost.
Luca Toni is made to look worse than he actually is by the Italian midfield's insistence upon spraying long balls up to him that he can't attack.
Also, Italy started the match with zero players who can beat a man. There are pretty much only two guys who can do that consistently in the whole of Italy, Pasquale Foggia and Antonio Cassano. Yet where the heck were they???
Italy will probably qualify for 2010, but unless Lippi drafts in some more energetic, pacey and creative players and clears out the dead wood (ie most of the squad) then they won't get beyond the second round.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2009 01:19AM by salvasirignano.

I still don't see why they can't have Cassano/Del Piero/Totti together

3x0

Shame about Dunga keeping Robinho and Gilberto Silva in the game! Cannot believe he decided to replace Ramires with Josué... Way too defensive! Robinho should have been pulled by half time, Nilmar or Pato would have done far better.

Yeah it should have been more to be honest, Italy were appalingly bad.
Glad the US got through though, I still can't quite believe they beat Egypt 3-0.

Is Del Piero still around for Italy???! That man could barely walk playing for Italy when he was young and fit, must be in a wheel-chair by now...

Some true legend for Juve though!

He still comes in the 2nd half and performs for Juve, but he hasn't been there.

So for semi-finals:

Spain x USA
Brazil x South Africa

US may have beat Egypt well (thanks to a poor defense offsetting a quite decent in offense squad) but now they have to go against Spain which has been even more aggressive than Brazil, so I say Spain 6x0 US .

Spain - Brazil final should be awesome, might even watch that!

It's sad we lost Juan, our central defender. I don't trust Luisão (plays at Benfica or PSV, forgot) to do the job, and the other sub was called up for the first time now and in the first game was a little too anxious.

It's Villa who brings up most of the game but to think of how much space Torres will have on the right side with a repulsive left wingback like ours (be it Kléber or André Santos, no idea why not call Maxwell from Inter!) and Miranda/Luisão on defense is a scary thought!

USA 2 x 0 Spain

Brazil better treat South Africa with respect tomorrow and not be arrogant otherwise we'll be out just like Spain.

Brazil - USA, deffo watching that! :P

C'mon Landon Donovan! (We should bring him in under the granny-rule...If Tony Cascarino can play for Ireland then someone with the name Donovan should be a shoe in!)