Confederations Celebration

As football tournaments go, the Confederations Cup seems like a pretty pointless one. Along with the hateful Club World Cup.
I have only watched bits and bobs of the Confederations Cup over the years, thinking it would be a tournament with each match having the feel of a painful international friendly.
This year, I took it upon myself to take more of an interest this time round, and I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed the tournament so far. Having sparkled in to life in the third minute of the tournament. Neymar, Barcelona's newest recruit, living up to his poster boy stature by smashing in a sublime half volley, rising in to the top corner.
Brazil may not be the anywhere near the great sides of 1970 or 1998, but they still know how to entertain. Their comfortable 3-0 win over Japan has certainly set the wheels in motion in their bid to win the tournament. A Confederations Cup win would certainly relieve some of the pressure that has piled on Scolari's shoulders. It seems the demanding natives of Brazil are certainly expecting to see their national team lift the FIFA World Cup next year, and their frustrations at Scolari have been apparent to British TV audiences recently. There have been boo's for Scolari, and his choice of substitutions. He was booed for substituting Hulk against England. For the record, if I was Brazilian I would be holding a street party celebrating the ineffectual Hulk's departure. He reminds me of a new version of Adriano, perhaps slightly more mobile. He's not that incredible, he's turning out for Zenit St. Petersburg for a reason. We have also seen the small crowd that was left, boo Jo when he came on late against Japan. He ultimately ended up slotting in a lovely third goal to cheers from the same crowd.

Neymar the prince of Brasil, opens the tournament in style

After the hosts had opened the tournament, Italy faced Gold Cup winners Mexico in The Maracana. We were given a truly pulsating tie. Pirlo, marked his 100th cap with a typical free kick. Bending it over the wall into the top corner. Mexico did try and gatecrash the Pirlo party, Javier Hernandez dispatched a penalty after Giovani Dos Santos was bought down by Barzagli. The Italian was lucky to stay on the field of play. The BBC commentator did mention pre match that the referee was "one of the strictest around." It proved to be false, as the apparent hot head Enrique Osses, had a night completely the opposite. Given his record, you'd have thought his eyes would have lit up at the possibility of sending off Barzagli. But amazingly, the blatant red card wasn't given. Yellow was the colour of choice for Mr Osses. On the subject of his performance, the players seemed to eventually accept the constant trend of making bad decisions.

Back to the football itself, a superb individual performance was rewarded with a goal for Mario Balotelli. He had threatened early doors, with two good chances missed, but the front man looked a different player from the woeful and immature player he seemed to be at Manchester City. Tracking back, passing the ball, holding it up. He gave a great number nine performance, and it was much deserved, when he turned both Torrado and Rodriguez before finishing low. It was great to see, and most of the 80,000 fans seemed to cheer at their loudest. As the fans favorite bought the Italians all three points.

Super Mario flexes his muscles in front of goal

If you thought that was good, the Spain game was something else. Kicking off at 11pm British Summer Time, I can't imagine the TV audience would have been at it's peak. For those who stayed up for it, they were treated to something so sublime. I will be honest, international football never excites me, unless it's the major tournaments. From what I have seen, this was the best half of football from an international team. I could not believe what I was seeing. Every single Spaniard, so comfortable on the ball, with no pass too short. Snappy passes, fluid movement. It was perfection. Before the two goals, Cesc Fabregas had already hit the base of the post following a typical flowing move. The first goal, rather fortunate as it was, set them on their way. Pedro lashing in a shot in off the static Diego Lugano. The second was sublime. A breathtaking run from the, well there are few words to describe Andreas Iniesta, ended with a perfectly slid ball for Roberto Soldado to finish confidently. The second half was less enchanting, however one moment of pure brilliance did come to view. Liverpool's want away striker Luis Suarez curled in a magnificent free kick, that eclipsed Pirlo's earlier. Spain look like they mean business, as they seek to add the Confederations Cup to their two European titles, and their World Cup triumph. Some trophy cabinet.

Iniesta was simply sublime