Confederations Cup 2013 - Spain vs Italy

A long, long, long game finally ended on penalties with Spain securing their place in the final against Brazil. Italy will play for the third place against Uruguay on Sunday.

In the opening half Italy controlled the game completely. Spain's left side was very leaky and Italy was able to come through over and over again. Thanks to San Iker, who played an incredible game once again, Italy didn't manage to score a goal.

Confederations Cup 2013 - Brazil vs Uruguay

Brazil claimed a spot in the final of the Confederations Cup 2013 with a victory from Uruguay. The team will face either Spain or Italy in Sunday's final.

Before the game Uruguay was seen as an underdog. The team isn't as full of talent, and their performances in the tournament have not been great. Surprisingly, however, they really put up a good fight. They did use their usual tricks diving, whining and tackling, but also managed to score a goal and really tested the Brazilians.

From crazy to calm - Real Madrid announce Ancelotti as Mou's successor.

Carlo Ancelotti has officially been announced as Real Madrid's new manager. The club was able to make a deal with PSG to get the Italian coach. Ancelotti signed a contract that will keep him at Santiago Bernabeu for the next three years. His successor at PSG will be former France coach Laurent Blanc.

Real Madrid's fans and haters all seem to agree that Carlo Ancelotti is a great choice, which is a rare case. Everyone who's ever watched football seems to be fed up with predecessor Jose Mourinho, and for a reason if I may add. The clubs fans are tired because he hasn't manage to bring the success and glory to the team as hoped. Actually the Portuguese has seemed to have done quite the opposite. I mean I never though I would feel sorry for Pepe or Cristiano Ronaldo, but hey thanks to Mou that happened..

Confederations Cup 2013 - Spain vs Nigeria

Yesterday Spain took the much deserved place as the winner of group B thanks to a neat victory over Nigeria. La Roja will face Italy in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup on Thursday.

Thanks to Jordi Alba's neat finishing on the third minute Spain got a very good start to the game. After that it was a bit more quiet for a while. Nigeria had some pretty good chances, but the finishing was poor, despite Spain's defense not being great at all. In the very end of the first half Cesc Fabregas shot off the post and Spain's second close was really close. With goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama's quick reflexes and a little bit of good fortune Nigeria, however, managed to end the first half only one goal behind.

Confederations Cup 2013 - Brazil vs Italy

Despite having both teams already secured their spots on the semifinals we still saw quite a fight for the victory in yesterday's game. Brazil, especially on the first half, controlled the game. Italy, however, had their moments as well. Dante scored the first goal on the last minute of the first half.

Giaccherini's goal right on the start of the second half equalized the game. Neymar's beautiful goal from a free kick, however, gave the Brazilians their lead back. Fred's goal ten minutes later took Brazily one step closer to winning their group.
Italy's defender Giorgio Chiellini managed to score one more goal for the Azzurri, but Fred's second goal of the evening gave the hosts a much earned victory.

Confederations Cup 2013 - Nigeria vs Uruguay

Suarez' guide to football

Of all the games played so far in this year's Confederations Cup the match between Nigeria vs Uruguay was perhaps the least entertaining. I'm not exactly a fan of Uruguay's and seeing them win doesn't make me very happy. Especially since they always seem to win, because of some unfair coincidence (against Ghana in WC 2010) Most of the players are pretty horrible too..

I hate hate hate Luis Suarez, I have absolutely zero respect for him or his talent. The man can score, but
everything else he does on the field overshadows all of his playing abilities. He says that in England people hate him, because he's a foreigner, but let's face it people hate him because he's an asshole.

Edinson Cavani, at least in this tournament, has been completely useless. Looking at his scoring stats I suppose he does sometimes actually do something on the field, but whenever I'm watching him play in Napoli or Uruguay he just looks like one of those really overrated players with plenty of cash, but very little intrest in the game.

Confederations Cup 2013 - Spain vs Tahiti

1st half

Spain decided to rest their first team in the game against Tahiti. Of course that meant that while Xavi, Iniesta and co opted to watch the game from the sidelines, players like Champions League winner Javi Martinez and Spain's all time scorer David Villa were playing. Quite a second team, huh?

The first half proved to be more difficult than thought. Fernando Torres did score Spain's first goal on the 5th minute, but after that Tahiti really put up a fight and it worked... for half an hour. Then Spain's scoring reaaally began. But before that I think that especially the defense and goalkeeper Roche of Tahiti were excellent. But then they got tired or I don't know what happened and by the time the first 45 minutes were over Spain was leading 4-0.


32' David Villa crossed the ball to David Silva: 2-0
33' Torres 3-0
39' David Silva crossed to David Villa: 4-0

Confederations Cup 2013 - Italy vs Japan

1st half

Of all the games in the Confederations Cup 2013 so far Italy vs Japan was definitely the most entertaining. The whole match was full of drama. Penalties, offsides and many many goals. Big feelings, perseverance and a very disappointed loser. This game had it all.

Japan was in control most of the first half and for the first half an hour Italy barely touched the ball. Well organized, tactically good, smart.. All of those adjectives could have been used to describe Japan. You can't even compare the team to the tired, lazy, uncreative team we saw against Brazil in the opening match. Japan was in it to win it.