The 2009 Confederations Cup was a nice little preview of World Cup 2010. Here’s what we learned:
1. Cold weather = High tempo June in South Africa is pretty cold. The heat and humidity that usually slows down summer tournaments was absent. A few players had to wear gloves and Dani Alves wrapped half a bear around his neck. But the huge upside was the high tempo of the games, which wouldn’t be possible in other countries at this time of year. If that doesn’t get you excited for World Cup 2010 then I can’t help you.
2. The Confederations Cup is a legit tournament Chris and myself have disagreed about this, and still do. He sees the Confed Cup as barely a notch above a friendly, I see it as pretty close to the real deal. The truth is probably somewhere inbetween. But because I’m writing this post, I’m going to point to the way Brazil celebrated winning this tournament.
3. Attendances will be fine Mistakes were made and some seats went unfilled. Mostly because the cheapest ticket was three times the cost of a South African Premier Soccer League game and because no one really wanted to see Iraq vs New Zealand. But the good news is that average attendances were around 36 to 37,000 and that’s without the invasion of foreign fans that will happen next summer.
4. Spain are not unbeatable La Furia Roja are still an excellent football team. But - as the USA proved - they can be beaten. This makes World Cup 2010 that little bit more open.
5. South Africa aren’t half bad OK, so Group A was easy. But Bafana Bafana got out of it and gave Brazil a scare in the semis. The fears about the 2010 host nation being incapable of competing can be put aside for now.
6. Luis Fabiano is the real deal Those who only know the big names might not have recognized the Seville striker. Not everyone who wears the Seleção #9 can be as famous as Ronaldo. But Luis Fabiano led the line more or less solo and still finished the tournament as top scorer with five goals.
7. USA are better than most people thought (including themselves) It started badly, but at least two countries - Spain and Brazil - will be a little more wary of the United States in future. And the performances of Landon Donovan and Oguchi Onyewu could yet secure them moves tho big European teams (with all due respect to Standard Liege).
8. New Zealand are not, and Oceania’s got to go Hate to say it, but the presence of Oceania seriously dilutes the standard of both the Confederations Cup and the Club World Cup. Time for Oceania to be absorbed by Asia I think.
9. Italy need to click refresh You can’t take your 2006 players to a 2009 tournament and expect to win. Young Beppe Rossi proved that the Azzurri have young talent that’s ready to play. Marcello Lippi needs to let that happen.
10. Four syllables: Vu - vu - ze - la Whether you wish death to the vuvuzela or have learned to live with them, the air horns will be a huge part of the World Cup next summer. But here’s hoping we don’t spend the next twelve months talking about how they sound like a swarm of bees etcetera. Because the only thing more annoying than the sound of the vuvuzela, is the sound of someone complaining about it.
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Brazil got the big trophy yesterday, but there were plenty of smaller ones handed out too. There were Gold, Silver and Bronze Balls for individual players, Gold, Silver and Bronze shoes for goalscorers and a solitary Golden Glove to the best keeper.
Clint Dempsey (USA) Landon Donovan (USA) Kaka (Brazil) Luis Fabiano (Brazil) Bernard Parker (South Africa) Steven Pienaar (South Africa) Robinho (Brazil) Fernando Torres (Spain) David Villa (Spain) Xavi Hernandez (Spain)
(Because apparently the shortlist couldn’t wait until after the tournament was actually completed)
Members of the FIFA accredited media were each asked to pick a top three from that list, and then the points were tallied to come up with:
Golden Ball: Kaka Silver Ball: Luis Fabiano Bronze Ball: Clint Dempsey
Not sure I’m 100% on board with that. Kaka was excellent in the final (especially the second half) but probably wouldn’t claim to have had an outstanding tournament. Luis Fabiano has led the line solo for Brazil and finished as top scorer (including two massive goals in the final - the first of which was a gem). So maybe he deserved it more.
And Clint Dempsey as the third best player at the tournament? Sure he’s scored three goals, and got better as the tourney progressed. But for the first two and a half games he was worthless, and many US fans were calling for him to be benched. Who came in fourth? DaMarcus Beasley?
I’m also more than a little unhappy with how the precious metal shoes for top scorers were distributed.
Golden Shoe: Luis Fabiano - 5 goals Silver Shoe: Fernando Torres - 3 goals Bronze Shoe: David Villa - 3 goals
Clint Dempsey also got three goals. But apparently his bronze ball disqualifies him. And why does Torres get silver and Villa bronze? Torres scored all his goals against New Zealand. The summer 2008 version of Mario Gomez could have done that (maybe),
Last but not least…
Golden Glove: Tim Howard
No argument there, the man was incredible against both Spain and Brazil. But respect to Egypt’s Essam Al Hadary for his performance against Italy. A few extra awards from WCB:
Most headed clearances: Oguchi Onyewu. If this tournament doesn’t earn him a move from Standard Liege to the Premier League then nothing will.
Best performance by someone playing out of position: Dani Alves. With the score at 0-0, the attacking rightback came on at lefback, and thundered home a late free-kick to send Brazil to the final.
Costliest error: Andrea Dossena, for the own goal vs Brazil which was ultimately what sent Italy home early.
Best redemption: Bernard Parker. Horrible moment for the South African striker where he cleared his teammate’s shot off the line in the opener vs Iraq, but Parker scored two in the next game vs New Zealand and all was forgiven.
Biggest impact form a player most people had never heard of: Charlie Davies. He plays for Hammarby in Sweden, in case you were wondering.
Any other individual awards? Hand them out in the comments.
The Confederations Cup 2009 is done, with both the third place playoff and the final taking place today. Congratulations to champions Brazil (who celebrated by wearing their shirts backwards) and to USA (yes, they threw away a two goal lead, but achieved plenty just by being in the final).
Highlights from both the final and the third place playoff after the jump…
Let’s start with the game no one was interested in:
South Africa 2-3 Spain (aet)
Hosts South Africa went ahead through sub Katlego Mphela in the 73rd, and came thisclose to claiming third place. But Spanish sub Dani Guiza scored in both the 88th and 89th (the second of which was clearly a cross) before Mphela made it 2-2 with a screamer of a free kick in the 93rd and sent it to extra time. If you came late to this game, you timed it right.
South Africa did themselves proud, but had to settle for fourth after Xabi Alonso curled a 107th minute free kick into the far bottom corner.
Spain’s winning run has begun again, but South Africa have done themselves proud at this tournament by running both Brazil and Spain close.
Now onto the more serious game…
Brazil 3-2 USA (goals, highlights and celebrations)
Obviously this was a bigger deal for the USA than for Brazil. The US has never won a tournament not named the Gold Cup, so the Confed Cup trophy would have taken pride of place in the US Soccer cabinet.
And after just 27 minutes, they were 2-0 up thanks to Clint Dempsey’s gentle volley (he meant it though, I think) and Landon Donovan’s goal on the counter-attack. With Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit putting on a repeat show of their defending vs Spain and Tim Howard looking like some sort of unbeatable half android, half human goalkeeping monster, a win looked a real possibility at half-time.
Second half was a different story, as Luis Fabiano’s turn and volley made it 2-1 with just 45:30 on the clock. From there it was almost all Brazil. Howard continued to make save after save, and even somehow convinced the refs that Kaka’s header hadn’t crossed the line (it clearly had).
Kaka’s influence grew and he eventually created Brazil equalizer by accelerating past Spector down the right and crossing for Robinho to hit the underside of the bar and Luis Fabiano to bury the rebound. Last but not least, Lucio made it 3-2 Brazil with just six minutes left when he headed home an Elano corner.
Great game of football for the neutral, and if the World Cup 2010 Final is even half as exciting as this, then I’ll be happy.
US fans might feel annoyed that their team let a 2-0 lead in a final disappear. Like when you smell great food heading your way in a restaurant and start salivating, only to see the food delivered to the next table. But the fact that the US even came that close is an achievement in itself, especially for a team that was all but mathematically eliminated before the final group game. They did well just to be at the table.
As for Brazil, that’s trophy number two for Dunga, who can respond to his critics with both Copa America and Confederations Cup medals. Not everyone loves how his Brazil plays, and the questions will continue all the way up to (and during) World Cup 2010. But his team battled back from two goals down today and got the job done.
Here it is then. Brazil vs USA in the 2009 Confederations Cup Final. The most important cup final the USA has ever reached. But definitely not the most important cup final Brazil has ever reached.
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The 2009 Confederations Cup was a nice little preview of World Cup 2010. Here’s what we learned:
Here it is then. Brazil vs USA in the 2009 Confederations Cup Final. The most important cup final the USA has ever reached. But definitely not the most important cup final Brazil has ever reached. 
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