Play beautiful, hah! Quote that to the New Zealand National Team and I assure you they won’t be as disciplined and as sportsman like as they were against their Spanish executioners. Fine, Spain versus New Zealand does not by any stretch of the imagination make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and tingle, however, it was embarrassing for me as a neutral spectator to witness such a vast gap in the talent, skill, enthusiasm, and raw capabilities of the two sides. It begs one to question the purpose and validity of such a competition that brings together, yes, the best teams from each corner of the world based on their respective competitions, but also, evidently, the better of the worst.
In most football cup competitions that exist, there are those that are billed as favorites, those that are seeded, and those that are just simply thrown into the box and picked at random: the low seeds; I call these ‘The David’s’. Now each David (NZ) gets an opportunity to shine, their big day on the world stage to play against their very own Goliath (Spain), there is one difference to this story however, David doesn’t have a sling shot, guess who’s in trouble! Time and time again we watch as teams are demolished and humiliated at the hands of vastly superior teams, then sent home to play in their below par regions, before they are needed again for warm ups with the big boys, is it right?
Diverting from my attack on this beautiful and necessary competition, there are pros and cons to every circumstance. The Confederations Cup does give teams of lower ranking an opportunity to test themselves against the best in the world. This competition is billed as a preview to World Cup 2010, with five cities from the host nation being used to facilitate the competition. The host nation also benefits as they have no qualifiers to get to the World Cup, and as a result, the Confederations Cup gives them valuable competitive experience that may prove vital in their attempts to do well in the World Cup itself.
There comes a point in every competition when the faint of heart need not watch. This is the time where the big boys come out to showcase their ability, or lack of it against each other. These are the teams with supporters who put their reputations, money, even their lives, ok, maybe their friends lives on the line in fervent support of who they consider to be the best. As sports lovers we know the unmatched feeling of victory, the ability to boast. The satisfaction we get every time we turn on ESPN or FSC and see a replay of something that provides us with ultimate joy, is there a better feeling?
The FIFA Confederations Cup brings this to us out of season. At a point where we put major football stresses at a premium here comes Spain, Brazil and Italy to raise our blood pressure. This ultimately is the high point of this competition; the semi final, and the final. With players like Luis Fabiano, the Brazil and Sevilla striker using this competition to raise the alert level of European clubs to his class an talent, there promises to be many flash points, players vying for World Cup starting places, and even ones jumping at the opportunity to be the winners of the Confederations Cup.
As always, we will admire and appreciate this beautiful game of football which will have on show for all to see the intricate class of the Spanish midfield, the skillful exuberance of the Brazilian maestros, as well as, the strategic intelligence of the Italians. I look forward to the climax of this competition and encourage all to enjoy every second of it.
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