2013 Confederations Cup : Preview

This Saturday the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup kicks off with Brazil squaring off against Japan. With the competition continuing throughout the following two weeks, let's take a glance at the national teams squaring off in this competition.

GROUP A

Japan (Ryan)

The AFC champions come into this competition in the most competitive group, and would be my dark horse pick for winning it all. Buoyed by a plethora of young stand out talents like Shinji Kagawa, this team heavy on talent plying its trade in the Bundesliga, may surprise everyone given the recent difficulties of the Brazilian and Mexican national teams.

I don't really need to tell any of you about the danger and quality of Shinji Kagawa seeing as we were on the receiving end of his stellar work for several seasons. Shinji Okazaki, the VfB Stuttgart striker is another amazing talent to watch on this team, given his introduction into the Stuttgart side in the DFB Pokal caused a dramatic swing and made that side much more lethal in the final 30 minutes against Bayern.

Mexico (Phillip)

Oh, World Cup Qualifying has not been going to plan to date for Mexico. After six matches, Chepo de la Torre's side is struggling. They've only managed three goals and have suffered three 0-0 draws at the might Estadio Azteca. In fact, several of their draws would be losses without the spectacular goalkeeping from Jose Corono. The Cruz Azul goalkeeper has that position on lockdown at this time.

Where are the offensive problems generating? Everywhere, really. The midfield isn't creating enough opportunities for the forwards, and the forwards are not capitalizing on the chances that they do receive. Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez has been especially wasteful in front of goal. Yes, he does have two of Mexico's three goals in the qualifying, but I imagine he may have more if he spent more time focusing on the goal rather than badgering the referees. Is it time for Chepo to turn his eyes to Giovani dos Santos? Yes. It's beyond time. Gio started the last qualifier on the bench against Costa Rica, and when he did come on the field, he had minimal impact.

Mexico generally play better against non-CONCACAF teams, so it will be interesting to keep an eye on them in this tough group. They could crash and burn out by taking zero points, or they could put together a few impressive performances and advance out of this group.

Italy (Phillip)

The Italians put together a surprise run to the final of last year's European Championship. The venerable Andrea Pirlo controlled the flow of every Italy match, and while they couldn't quite knock Spain off their perch atop the continent, they made sure everyone knew that they were "back".

Mario Balotelli will lead the Italian's front line, but Alberto Gilardino and Stephan El Shaarawy will be on hand if Balotelli starts to crack under the pressure a little bit. Italy will need a strong performance out of their midfield in order to get out of this tough group. Brazil, Mexico and Japan are all tough opponents, and Italy will need to be at their best to beat them.

Back in goal for the Italians will be Gianluigi Buffon. If there's one goalkeeper in this entire tournament that I want to put my trust in to carry my team to the promised land, it's none other than Gigi Buffon.

Brazil (Ryan)

The samba footy masters host this year's Confederations Cup in preparation for next year's main event. They come in rapidly dropping down the FIFA rankings, the result of some rather poor performances since the end of World Cup 2010, despite possessing a near disgusting wealth of world class players, including our very own Dante and Luis Gustavo. The last few weeks have seen them perform relatively mundanely, so this is clearly a team somehow not clicking. Luis Gustavo has featured prominently in both contests, while Dante had a brief cameo in a 3-0 win against a less than optimal French side. They definitely have their work cut out for them if they wish to impress their nation as Group A is decidedly the more difficult of the two.

Group A Rosters

Brazil National Team		Japan National Team		Italy National Team		Mexico National Team
Goalkeepers		Goalkeepers		Goalkeepers		Goalkeepers
1	JEFFERSON	1	Eiji KAWASHIMA	1	Gianluigi BUFFON	1	Guillermo OCHOA
12	JULIO CESAR	12	Shusaku NISHIKAWA	12	Salvatore SIRIGU	12	Jose CORONA
22	DIEGO CAVALIERI	23	Shuichi GONDA	13	Federico MARCHETTI	23	Alfredo TALAVERA
Defenders		Defenders		Defenders		Defenders
2	DANI ALVES	2	Masahiko INOHA	2	Christian MAGGIO	2	Francisco RODRIGUEZ
3	THIAGO SILVA	3	Gotoku SAKAI	3	Giorgio CHIELLINI	3	Carlos SALCIDO
4	DAVID LUIZ	5	Yuto NAGATOMO	4	Davide ASTORI	4	Diego REYES
6	MARCELO	6	Atsuto UCHIDA	5	Mattia DE SCIGLIO	5	Jesus MOLINA
13	DANTE	15	Yasuyuki KONNO	15	Andrea BARZAGLI	13	Severo MEZA
14	FILIPE LUIS	16	Yuzo KURIHARA	19	Leonardo BONUCCI	15	Hector MORENO
15	JEAN	21	Hiroki SAKAI	20	Ignazio ABATE	20	Jorge TORRES
16	REVER	22	Maya YOSHIDA	Midfielders		21	Hiram MIER
Midfielders		Midfielders		6	Antonio CANDREVA	22	Gerardo FLORES
5	FERNANDO	4	Keisuke HONDA	7	Alberto AQUILANI	Midfielders
8	HERNANES	7	Yasuhito ENDO	8	Claudio MARCHISIO	6	Gerardo TORRADO
17	LUIZ GUSTAVO	8	Hiroshi KIYOTAKE	16	Daniele DE ROSSI	7	Pablo BARRERA
18	PAULINHO	10	Shinji KAGAWA	18	Riccardo MONTOLIVO	10	Giovani DOS SANTOS
Forwards		13	Hajime HOSOGAI	21	Andrea PIRLO	11	Javier AQUINO
7	LUCAS	14	Kengo NAKAMURA	22	Emanuele GIACCHERINI	16	Hector HERRERA
9	FRED	17	Makoto HASEBE	23	Alessandro DIAMANTI	17	Jesus ZAVALA
10	NEYMAR	19	Takashi INUI	Forwards		18	Andres GUARDADO
11	OSCAR	20	Hideto TAKAHASHI	9	Mario BALOTELLI	Forwards
19	HULK	Forwards		10	Sebastian GIOVINCO	8	Angel REYNA
20	BERNARD	9	Shinji OKAZAKI	11	Alberto GILARDINO	9	Aldo DE NIGRIS
21	LEANDRO DAMIAO	11	Mike HAVENAAR	14	Stephan EL SHAARAWY	14	Javier HERNANDEZ
23	JADSON	18	Ryoichi MAEDA	17	Alessio CERCI	19	Raul JIMENEZ

GROUP B

Uruguay (Phillip)

They're easily the second most talented team in their group, and you're hard-pressed to find a more talented attacking trio than what the Uruguayans will throw at you. Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez, and Edinson Cavani are as talented as they come and should lead this team out of the group stage of this tournament.

It's tough to not see Uruguay advancing out of the group. The focus will be on their defense. They've struggled thus far in CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying conceding 21 goals in only 12 matches. It starts at the back with Fernando Muslera. The back four in front of him will likely be Diego Lugano, Diego Godin, Maxi Pereira, and Martin Caceres. They need to exhibit better communication and (Let's just be blunt about it.) better defensive ability.

We've seen this side hit a hot streak before, and it's possible that it could happen again in Brazil.

Nigeria (Ryan)

The recently crowned African Champions come into this competition paired up in the weakest group. The key to their performance in this competition is going to revolve around the performance of Chelsea star John Obi Mikel and how effectively he can control the center of the pitch. If he has a bad competition, Nigeria is going to be eaten alive by the potent attacks of Uruguay and Spain. That's how simple the equation for Nigeria is.

Spain (Phillip)

The reigning European (two time) and World Champion Spain are the favorites heading into the 2013 Confederations Cup. They'll be expected to win this group. However, we all remember the 2009 version of this event when the United States eliminated Spain in the semifinals. While the Confederations Cup isn't the World Cup or European Championship, Spain will want to win this competition to add to their trophy haul in recent years.

The rumor has been building that Victor Valdes will get the start in goal over stalwart Iker Casillas. It's been a very down year overall for San Iker, and it looks like it will continue negatively for him. Otherwise, you're looking at your normal Spain squad except for the likelihood of Javi Martinez replacing the injured Xabi Alonso. If Martinez can duplicate his Bayern Munich form for Spain, there's a possibility that the side will be even stronger in this event.

If they can find goals from David Villa, Fernando Torres, Pedro, or Roberto Salgado, then they will be fine. The depth is there at every position for Spain to make a deep run in this tournament and probably win the entire thing. Vincente del Bosque is spoiled in his choice of talent. Expect a good showing.

Tahiti (Ryan)

The OFC representative for this year's Confederations Cup is Tahiti. The land of paradise, whose squad is composed of entirely domestic non-professionals with the exception of striker Marama Vahirua who plays his trade for Panathinaikos in Greece. The 33 year old is their best player who has had a successful career at various French sides, before moving to Greece this year. Despite this experience, this represents his first international appearance for Tahiti.

Pooled into the same group with Spain, Uruguay, and Nigeria, Tahiti have almost no chance at advancing, let alone potentially winning a match. This means we should be rooting for them all the way as this is quite possibly the greatest moment in many of these player's lives, and that alone is worth celebrating.

Group B Rosters

Nigeria National Team		Tahiti National Team		Uruguay National Team		Spain National Team
Goalkeepers		Goalkeepers		Goalkeepers		Goalkeepers
1	Vincent ENYEAMA	1	Mikael ROCHE	1	Fernando MUSLERA	1	Iker CASILLAS
16	Austine EJIDE	22	Gilbert MERIEL	12	Juan CASTILLO	12	Victor VALDES
23	Chigozie AGBIM	23	Xavier SAMIN	23	Martin SILVA	23	Pepe REINA
Defenders		Defenders		Defenders		Defenders
2	Godfrey OBOABONA	4	Teheivarii LUDIVION	2	Diego LUGANO	2	Raul ALBIOL
3	Uwa ECHIEJILE	5	Tamatoa WAGEMANN	3	Diego GODIN	3	Gerard PIQUE
5	Efe AMBROSE	8	Stephane FAATIARAU	4	Sebastian COATES	5	Cesar AZPILICUETA
6	Azubuike EGWUEKWE	10	Nicolas VALLAR	13	Matias AGUIRREGARAY	15	SERGIO RAMOS
12	Solomon KWAMBE	12	Edson LEMAIRE	16	Maximiliano PEREIRA	17	Alvaro ARBELOA
21	Francis BENJAMIN	19	Vincent SIMON	19	Andres SCOTTI	18	Jordi ALBA
22	Kenneth OMERUO	20	Yannick VERO	22	Martin CACERES	19	Nacho MONREAL
Midfielders		Midfielders		Midfielders		Midfielders
4	John OGU	6	Henri CAROINE	5	Walter GARGANO	4	Javier MARTINEZ
10	John Obi MIKEL	7	Heimano BOUREBARE	6	Alvaro PEREIRA	6	INIESTA
13	Fegor OGUDE	11	Stanley ATANI	7	Cristian RODRIGUEZ	8	XAVI
17	Ogenyi ONAZI	14	Rainui AROITA	8	Sebastian EGUREN	10	Cesc FABREGAS
18	Emeka EZE	15	Lorenzo TEHAU	14	Nicolas LODEIRO	16	Sergio BUSQUETS
19	Sunday MBA	16	Ricky AITAMAI	15	Diego PEREZ	20	Santi CAZORLA
Forwards		17	Jonathan TEHAU	17	Egidio AREVALO	22	Jesus NAVAS
7	Ahmed MUSA	Forwards		18	Gaston RAMIREZ	Forwards
8	Brown IDEYE	2	Alvin TEHAU	20	Alvaro GONZALEZ	7	David VILLA
9	Joseph AKPALA	3	Marama VAHIRUA	Forwards		9	Fernando TORRES
11	Muhammad GAMBO	9	Teaonui TEHAU	9	Luis SUAREZ	11	PEDRO
14	Anthony UJAH	13	Steevy CHONG HUE	10	Diego FORLAN	13	Juan MATA
15	Michael BABATUNDE	18	Yohann TIHONI	11	Abel HERNANDEZ	14	Roberto SOLDADO
20	Nnamdi ODUAMADI	21	Samuel HNANYINE	21	Edinson CAVANI	21	DAVID SILVA

Viewing

USA: ESPN (TV) and ESPN3 (Online Streaming)

UK: BBC (TV)