THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS

The FIFA Confederations cup is traditionally a curtain raiser for the actually world cup.This year it will be held in Brazil,the home samba.As with all tournaments there are expectations and drama will definitely unfold.On this article you're going to get a glimpse of what is going to unfold in Brazil.
GROUP A
BRAZIL: I start my analysis with the host nation,Brazil.The selecao are going into this tournament as favourites as they always seem to do going into every tournament.Although with their lowest world ranking of 22nd,the brazilians still believe in themselves and believe they can win the tournament as they did with the last two editions especially under the man who brought them their last world cup,luis felipe scolari..In the 7 matches he has beem head coach the selecao have won just 3 .He has a lot of experience at this level but he seems like a man trying to find his feet with the wealth of talent avaliable to him.He doesn't yet know which centre back pairing he prefers,either Thiago silva or David luiz/Dante.Although of recent,he has shown a preference for David luiz.He also has the same problem in the centre of midfield between Fernando,Hernanes and Paulinho.As with the centre backs,of recent he has gone mostly with the latter 2 of 3.Then the attacking trio always has Oscar & Neymar,but the 3rd person could be Lucas moura or Hulk if he's not playing up top ahead of Fred.Brazil will definetly miss Leandro damiao who is out of the competition due to injury.Scolari took a gamble not calling Brazilian legends Ronaldinho & kaka,but taking them would have been a gamble on it's own.The exclusion of Chelsea midefielder Ramires is somewhat suprising seeing as he has been a regular in the Brazilian squad.Lucas of Liverpool would also be disappointed not to be called up,but then again,many players would also be disappointed not to be called up after a fairly reasonable season.But an exclusion that suprised many was the exclusion of the 20-year old Philipe Coutinho.The Liverpool man had a brilliant second half of the season with the merseysiders,he created the most chances in the Epl starting from his debut in February.Oscar played 34 games in the Epl scoring 4 times assisting 7. Coutinho played 13 times scoring 3 goals assisting 7.Also he played12 times for the Brazilian u-17 and u-20 scoring 6 times .These stats alone show how good the youngster is,anyway maybe he's a star for the main event next year.The brazilians have been handed a very tricky group,because in all honesty,the gulf in class between Brazil,Italy,Mexico and Japan is not that much,if any.People consider Brazil and Italy as the two that will qualify,but Mexico and Japan are teams that will always give their all,and as said earlier the Brazilians are still trying to find there feet and only look superior because they are Brazil,while the Italians have not been the team that won plaudits for their performance at Euro 2012.I personally am expecting a really tight group and for those who bet i'll advice you keep your cards close to your chest.Players to watch the first name which certainly comes to everyones mind would be the new Barcelona player Neymar.He will be out to prove a point for people who think he is over-hyped,overrated & just a "you tube player",although he had that chance at the 2011 edition of the Copa America and also at the Olympic games of 2012 and didn't perform as he and his Brazilian counterparts would have hoped for.Neymar has the tendency to go missing in big games,he tends to showboat when it's not necessary and is not also the best at tracking back to help the defence.Another man hoping to put on a good show at the Confederations cup is Oscar.The Chelsea midfielder has been named man of the match in the 7 matches Scolari has been in charge,this alone tells you how important he is to Brazil's hope of winning the Confederations Cup.He is also seen as the Robin while Neymar is the batman of the Brazilian juggernaut.They together with Lucas Moura,Hulk and their captain,Thiago silva,who many believe to be the best centre defender in the world, and who recently described the Brazilian defence as "leaky" will be hoping to light up the tournament and win the Confederations cup in style just like their 1997 counterparts won it in style with Ronaldo,Romario,Rivaldo and Denilson running the show.The bottom line is Brazilians want to win the Confederations cup for the 3rd time in a row & for the 4th time overall.





                                                      

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