SOC: Confederations Cup Preview
The upcoming FIFA Confederations Cup is set to begin on June 17, we'll see the host nation, Russia, fight to win their first title in all international competitions. They will face off against the 2014 World Cup champions, Germany, and the winners of the six FIFA confederations: Australia, Chile, New Zealand, Mexico, Portugal and Cameroon.
AUSTRALIA:
Qualifying for the Confederations Cup via the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in January of 2016, Australia has a lot to prove. Following their embarrassing exit in the 2014 World Cup, having lost all three group games resulting in elimination and not making it to the knockout stages, they came back strong for their regional tournament.
They advanced as second in their group behind South Korea. They met China in the quarterfinals beating them 2-0 and defeated the United Arab Emirates by the same score to advance to the finals against their group member South Korea. In the final, Australia needed extra time to advance, 2-1.
More recently, Australia has had an average run during their World Cup qualifications matches, during which, they’ve won four games and tied four. They are currently in third place behind Japan and Saudi Arabia in their group and could very well not qualify immediately and would be forced to go to a fourth round of qualification.
For their warm up international friendly, the Socceroos, as they’re called, faced the number one team in the world Brazil, where they were thrashed 4-0. Despite this loss, the Aussie manager, Ange Postecoglou is confident his team can put together a solid run and win the Confederations Cup.
However, with their underwhelming performances leading up to the tournament, I don’t believe they’ll even make it out of their group, considering they will face the defending world champions, Germany, as well as Chile and Cameroon.
CAMEROON:
Cameroon has been facing many distracting issues for years, mainly off the pitch. In 2013, Cameroon was banned from international football because of interference from their national government. Two years after FIFA lifted the ban, elections were held to select a new president for the federation in which Tombi A Roko Sidiki was voted the new president.
However, for the past two years, many of the country’s clubs as well as various courts have contested Sidiki’s presidency. FIFA recently came out with a statement declaring that they are aware of the internal conflict in the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) and that Sadiki has no authority to run FECAFOOT, but that it would be best to not do anything for the time being.
On top of this, on the pitch, Cameroon will be missing their starting left back Ambroise Oyongo. After their 4-0 defeat to Colombia during their warm up international friendly, I don’t see Cameroon winning a single game in their group.
CHILE:
To the surprise of a lot of people, one team missing from this tournament is Brazil. During the 2015 Copa America, Paraguay eliminated them during the quarterfinals during a penalty shoot-out, after having tied 1-1 through the first 90 minutes and extra time. In their place, representing CONMEBOL, the South American football confederation, is Chile.
The past two years have been nothing short of fantastic for Chile, winning both the 2015 Copa America, which is how they earned their spot for the 2017 Confederations Cup, and the 100th anniversary of the Copa America in 2016.
For this tournament, manager Juan Antonio Pizzi has called up a near identical squad to the one that won last year’s Copa America. In this squad are Chile’s big name players such as Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, Bayern Munich’s Arturo Vidal, Manchester City’s Claudio Bravo, and Tigres’ Eduardo Vargas.
I have no doubt Sanchez and Vidal will perform and help lead Chile to a strong performance, but my worries for Chile are mainly with their goalkeeping situation. Bravo will likely be named the starting keeper for this Chile team but he struggled very much this season for his club team Manchester City. Bravo was brought in to replace Joe Hart as City’s number one keeper but quickly lost his starting position to Willy Caballero.
Bravo was benched for most League games and called on for the FA Cup where City managed to get to semis before eventual winner Arsenal defeated them 2-1. I have no trouble believing Chile can have a good run and possibly win it, but Bravo needs to have a very strong performance if they plan to do so.
GERMANY:
Germany’s manager Joachim Low has come under criticism for the squad he has called up for the Confederations Cup, after calling up what many would consider “the B-team.” Low made the decision to leave out all but three players that were part of the 2014 World Cup team and explained that those players need to rest, as most of them play in a few different tournaments with their club teams.
Players like Toni Kroos, Jerome Boateng, and Mesut Ozil are all crucial to the German team and will be needed to defend their title in next year’s World Cup. What makes Low’s decision interesting is that he has previously stated that he does not see the point in
participating in this tournament and that if there were to be no Confederations Cup in 2021 he “would not be unhappy” and that “those involved would not be unhappy either.” Even though Germany’s squad is inexperienced, with Joachim Low at the helm, I believe Germany can make a solid run into the semifinals.
MEXICO:
Mexico is the dark horse team for me in this tournament. They have the ability to surprise many and make a solid run into the semifinals, where it is likely they will face Chile. One year ago, they were embarrassed by Chile during a 7-0 defeat, and they will be looking to show how much they have progressed as a team.
Mexico will be missing one of their star forwards, Jesus Manuel ‘Tecatito’ Corona, who is out dealing with a personal issue. Their other forwards have been struggling a bit even through the good results. They manage to get the ball into the box and in a position to score but fail to convert these opportunities into goals.
With manager Juan Carlos Osorio’s unique approach of changing line-ups game-to-game depending on the opponent, all 22 players will need to be at their best if they want to prove they are a top contender for this tournament and for next year’s World Cup.
NEW ZEALAND:
Representing the Oceania Football Confederation, New Zealand is hopeful they can prove to the world they can compete with the top teams. However, the easier competition in their confederation gives me reason to believe they will struggle in this tournament.
Their defense will have difficulties keeping up with Portugal and Mexico’s attack. If they can manage a win over Russia and a tough draw with Mexico, there is a tiny chance they sneak through, but based on their last three matches with Mexico, in which they lost all three by an aggregate score of 11-4, I don’t see them moving on to the knockout stages.
PORTUGAL:
Coming into this tournament, I have the highest expectations for Portugal. After winning the 2016 Euro tournament, they have won an impressive 7-out-of-9 matches. For this tournament, Portugal will be missing their two star forwards, Eder and Renato Sanchez.
Eder, who scored the winner for Portugal against France in the Euro final, had a disappointing season for his club team, Lille, and was ultimately left off this Portugal squad. Despite this, their attack will not slow down.
After the stellar year Cristiano Ronaldo had, winning back-to-back Champion’s League titles, edging out Barcelona to take La Liga, and winning his 5th Ballon D’or, his amazing production in the box will help Portugal reach the final. I truly think Portugal can win this but only if Ronaldo performs at the high level he played at with Real Madrid.
RUSSIA:
Russia has a lot to prove this upcoming calendar year if they want to show they are a serious threat to win either this tournament or the World Cup next year. Because they are the hosts for both tournaments, they were automatically qualified.
Without the stress that comes from qualifiers, Russia needs to focus on improving, especially on their lackluster attack. The people of Russia are expecting a strong performance but they might be disappointed. Russia has only managed to win 3-out-of-15 matches and against the competition they will be facing this tournament, I don’t think they’ll be able to add any more wins to that tally. Russia will not be advancing out of the group stage.
PREDICTION:
Although the Confederations Cup has not reached the popularity of the World Cup or FIFA’s other international tournaments, this summer could be the tournament’s best iteration. There are many teams who are not normally highlighted that want to step up and show they are a top team. Ultimately, I think Chile will continue their international dominance and best Portugal in the final on July 2, by a score of 2-1.
Photo Credit: The NY Times.
