Confederations Cup

NEYMAR IS KING. BRAZIL DESTROYS SPAIN

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Neymar's left-footed golaço past Iker Casillas. (Photo: AP Photo)
Neymar’s left-footed golaço past Iker Casillas. (Photo: AP Photo)

 

Neymar’s Triumph. Neymar’s Glory.

In a grudge match between Brazil and Spain with the Confederations Cup trophy on the line, Brazil was out to show the world that Brazil plays the best soccer in the world and that Spain is only a poor imitation of Brazilian soccer.

Brazil destroyed and demoralized Spain in a 3-0 goleada that put the world on notice.

Brazilians like Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho, and basically the entire Seleção set the tone from the initial whistle with ferocious tackling, intense pressing, and an outstanding amount of running that totally disoriented and dazed Spain like an Anderson Silva front kick to the face.

Brazil came out to play with so much intensity that Spain was engulfed and devastated from the opening kickoff.

The approach of the Seleção wasn’t purely psychological and physical intimidation, but rather Brazil brought its historic magic, guile, and trickery that had been missing from the Brazilian national team for several years until the beginning of the Confederations Cup.

Whether it was fueled by huge public protest about inadequate public services and infrastructure in Brazil or a growing sense of rage at the glorification of the style of soccer played by Barcelona and the Spanish national team, something motivated the Brazilians to deliver a level of overall intensity and collective group play that has almost never been seen out of Brazil.

Certainly several years ago, the Seleção displayed a degree of artistry and skill that made fans the world over want to watch Brazil play, but recently the Brazilian national team didn’t show the exciting and creative style of play that captivated audiences and made Brazil the pinnacle of world football.

Spain really was metaphorically body slammed and drop kicked out of Maracanã by the feared yellow jerseys of Brazil, and the emotional state of the Seleção totally disrupted the way Spain liked to play. While Brazil was very aggressive in its tackling, very few tackles were dirty or overly rough.

Brazil played like they really resented all of the praise that Spain has received for their smooth and graceful passing, which Brazilians fell like is a style of soccer that was invented in Brazil decades before Barcelona or Spain starting playing that way.

While Neymar was fantastic in his passing, his movement of the ball, and his overall display of talent, his left-footed golaço scored on Iker Casillas was particularly ruthless.

Without any hesitation, Neymar flamethrowered a left-footed shot at Casillas’ face, which went right over Casillas’ head due to the fact that the shot had to have looked like a blurr to Casillas.

Neymar’s left-footed golaço sent a message around the world like his other goals in the tournament have done, and this particular goal said “Even if you cover the near post, I can still crush a left-footed shot right at your head, and you still won’t have a chance.”

It was a sensational goal that should silence critics.

Spain enjoyed more possession, but it didn’t appear that way when one was watching the game as Brazil was constantly winning the ball back, darting toward the Spanish goal, and stringing together one-touch passes.

In a way, Spain and its players were not even a storyline, as their play was totally eclipsed by the attacking and defensive intensity that hit Spain like a tidal wave for the entire 90 minutes, and any chances Spain had were either rejected by diving saves from Brazil’s goalkeeper, Julio Cesar, or on one occasion a seemingly impossible sliding clearance that David Luiz somehow managed to clear over his own goal, despite making his interception on his own goal line.

Brazil almost bullied Spain, and any fouls on Neymar or any other Brazilian player were met with severe warnings from the rest of the Seleção, as they often surrounded and intimidated players from the Spanish national team.

The Brazilian weren’t violent or dirty, but they did seek to psychologically intimidate Spanish players like Sergio Busquets, Álvaro Arbeloa, and Gerard Piqué.

Spain was devasted by the Seleção in a true goleada that seemed to signal the return of Brazilian soccer to the top of world soccer.

While Spain has its passing and possession, every Brazilian national team player is equally or more capable of passing the ball like Spain, but the Brazilians have the additional element of superior individual skill on the ball, which can embarrass opponents in 1v1 situations.

Brazilian soccer is back, and Neymar has announced to the world that just might be the king of world soccer, and the player par excellence.

The Canarinho won as a team, and Brazil under Felipão has displayed that it has elite players at every position who can devastate opponents with inspired collective play and individual brilliance.

Today, Brazil played with a fire that burned on the inside, and Brazil will have to learn how to demonstrate close to or the same level of intensity in future games, as opposed to not being active enough without the ball.

This Brazil-Spain matchup was one of the most exciting soccer games seen in a long time, and Italy, Spain, Brazil, and Germany are all displaying a very high level of play that should make for competitive and exciting games before and during the World Cup.

France has a new crop of young players who may prove to be a force to be reckoned with, but Brazil showed that they have the capacity to thoroughly embarrass Spain. Now, Germany is the next team that Brazil has to prove itself against.

Anyone who doubted Brazil or Neymar should take a good, hard look at the passing, scoring, and overall skill that Neymar showed in this tournament against elite competition, and Brazil’s doubters should look at how skilled, complete, and deep Brazil is at every position.

Futebol arte is back, and Neymar is its king.

 

FIFA MATCH REPORT:

 

http://www.fifa.com/confederationscup/matches/round=255211/match=300222461/summary.html

 

GLOBO ESPORTE MATCH REPORT:

 

http://globoesporte.globo.com/jogo/copa-confederacoes-2013/30-06-2013/brasil-espanha.html

 

MARCA COVERAGE (SPANISH AND ENGLISH VERSIONS):

 

http://www.marca.com/eventos/marcador/futbol/2013/copa_confederaciones/final/bra_spa/

 

http://www.marca.com/2013/06/30/en/football/national_teams/1372577474.html

 

 

Balotelli vs. Neymar: Italy 2-4 Brazil

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Brazil was far more dangerous in the attack, but any look back at Italy’s two to four loss to Brazil has to be prefaced with the caveat that Daniele De Rossi and Andre Pirlo were unavailable to play and that Paulinho was being rested by Brazil to let his ankle recover.

 

Brazil deserved to win, and particularly Neymar’s third goal in three games was a free-kick golaço that had nothing to do with Italy’s line-up and everything to do with Neymar’s steady string of big performances on the world stage.

 

It’s worth repeating that Brazil too was a missing a vital player in its midfield: Paulinho. As one of the world’s best box-to-box midfielders and Luiz Gustavo’s partner in the defensive section of the midfield, Brazil was without one of its key ball winners and main protagonists in the midfield, and yet still Brazil won.

 

If Italy was missing De Rossi and Pirlo, then it’s fair to note that without Ramires even on the roster as a replacement for Paulinho, Brazil was itself missing half of what Italy was missing.

 

Both Italy and Brazil were without at least one major midfield piece, and this affected how Italy and Brazil played.

 

Without Pirlo and De Rossi, Mario Balotelli lacked two of the players who are most responsible for either ensuring that Italy has a strong percentage of the possession or providing Balotelli with final balls or at the very least, a steady stream of service.

 

Gigi Buffon was blamed for two of Brazil’s goals as he blocked two of Brazil’s shots as opposed to catching them, and given his skill level, perhaps blocking them was all he was able to do, despite what the commentators said.

 

One of Buffon’s blocks was purposely played away from the goalmouth but Brazil’s central defender, Dante, a native of Salvador where the game was played, pounced on the rebound and was in ecstasy as he scored in the Arena Fonte Nova, home of the team that he has been a fan of since childhood, Bahia.

 

Even without Pirlo and De Rossi, Italy was totally guilty of conceding the third goal to Brazil when Fred outmuscled the much stronger Giorgio Chiellini in the penalty box to roof a left-footed shot into the upper 90 on the left side of the goal.

 

In many ways, Brazil scored two legitimate goals, and Italy only scored one.

 

With a possible offside on Brazil’s first goal, a Neymar golaço on the second goal, a well-deserved goal by Fred on the third goal, and a mishandled shot by Buffon on the fourth goal, Brazil scored two totally legitimate goals compared to Italy’s one legitimate goal scored by Emanuele Giaccherini off a balletic backwards flicked assist by Balotelli.

 

Neymar versus Balotelli and Italy versus Brazil in this first Confederations Cup encounter doesn’t tell the whole story.

 

Even without De Rossi and Pirlo, Brazil deserved to win, but in the duel of Neymar versus Balotelli is far from over.

 

Neymar stole the headlines with his free kick golaço, but Balotelli’s backwards volleyed assist to Giaccherini was outrageously brazen. Neymar won, but Brazil almost had to resort to wrestling and kicking Balotelli to stop him.

 

The Confederations Cup isn’t over, and Balotelli and Neymar offer the world the chance to perhaps see the world’s most talented second striker (Neymar) and the world’s most talented first-striker (Balotelli) face off against each other again in this tournament.

 

Balotelli has learned how to keep his cool, and Neymar has learned how to body check and get more physical with opponents, in the hopes of deterring them from fouling him too much.

 

This new physicality was new from Neymar, and perhaps it brings him one step closer from being immune to comments from doubters who say he doesn’t have the physicality to play in Europe.

 

Neymar unfortunately hurt Ignazio Abate with his body check, but it was time for Neymar to start knocking people off him.

 

Some observers like to dismiss the absence of certain key players as the reason for a win by the other team, and other observers view the absence of key players as a valid and important piece of analysis.

 

Neymar and Balotelli both performed, and Italy and Brazil both advanced out of the group stage.

 

The battle between Balotelli and Neymar continues, and the additional subplot of seeing how Neymar and Balotelli compare to Spain loams on the horizon.

 

Balotelli and Neymar are coming for Messi, and Brazil and Italy are both coming for Spain…and Germany.

Neymar Silences His Critics Again

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Neymar scores a golaço again. (Foto: Jefferson Bernardes / Vipcomm)
Neymar scores a golaço again. (Foto: Jefferson Bernardes / Vipcomm)

 

Two Confederations Cup games and two volleyed golaços from Neymar.

 

Even more spectacular than Neymar’s left-footed volleyed goal was the display of 1v2 dribbling through the Mexican defense to the left of the goal along the endline.

 

Neymar beat two Mexican defenders with an outrageous nutmeg that one rarely sees executed against international caliber defenders like Mexico’s, and this audacious display of skill allowed Neymar to break through the defense and assist Jô for Brazil’s second goal.

 

Neymar is often labeled a diver or a showman or both, but once again, Neymar showed how his magic and trickery are effective at producing results.

 

Commentators, writers, and fans frequently question how Neymar will be able to perform in Europe, as if Brazil isn’t a competitive soccer environment, but Neymar has shown two games in a row in a major FIFA tournament, the Confederations Cup, how he is able to play at the same level in international tournaments as he has played in Brazil.

 

There were a variety of riveting highlights and tricks from Neymar in Brazil’s win over Mexico, but Neymar was also the author of the first goal and the assist on the second goal.

 

With his crucial involvement in the victory over Mexico and just like his role in the win over Japan before, Neymar cannot continue to be labeled as merely a YouTube sensation or an unproven player who hasn’t proven himself against strong competition.

 

With the eyes of the world watching him in a major international tournament, Neymar was effective and electrifying again.

 

Italy Defeats Mexico 2-1, Balotelli and Pirlo Score

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Andrea Pirlo scoring a free kick golazo during his 100th cap for Italy. (Photo: Reuters)
Andrea Pirlo scoring a free kick golazo during his 100th cap for Italy. (Photo: Reuters)

 

Before Andrea Pirlo opened the scoring for Italy and the game with a free kick golazo, Mario Balotelli was very active and aggressive at antagonizing the Mexican defense, which put Italy in the driver’s seat.

 

Mexico didn’t take Pirlo’s free kick lying down, as Mexico’s second striker and pseudo-enganche, Giovani dos Santos, pounced on Andrea Barzagli’s miscontrol outside of Italy’s penalty box, and Barzagli ultimately clipped Dos Santos’ heel conceding a penalty kick.

 

With Mexico down one to zero, Chicharito kept his cool on his penalty kick and outfoxed Italian goalkeeper, Gigi Buffon, to tie the game up at one goal.

 

Balotelli broke the deadlock in the 78th minute by shielding Mexico’s center back, Maza (Francisco Javier Rodriguez), off the ball, and then Balotelli used his quickness to spin around Maza and power the game-winning goal into the back of the net. Balotelli’s goal came off some creativity and quick thinking by Emanuele Giaccherini who deftly volleyed the ball with the outside of his foot over the Mexican defense.

 

Many Italian fans complained about the inclusion of Giaccherini in the starting line-up in place of Italy’s (presumably) still injured young prodigy, Stephan El Shaarawy, but Giaccherini was lively and dangerous in the attack.

 

Leonardo Bonucci was a surprising omission from the Italian starting line-up. Will Italian coach, Cesare Prandelli, use a five-man defense in the next game and start Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, and Giorgio Chiellini as three center backs with Ignazio Abate and Mattia De Sciglio as terzini fluidificanti (wing backs)?

 

Turning to Mexico’s line-up and tactics, the Mexican media and Mexican fans are in panic mode, but Mexico played Italy close. While Italy displayed superior passing against Mexico, Mexico only lost due to a single play by one of world soccer’s best talents, Mario Balotelli. Overall, Mexico is a skilled squad at every position, except for Mexico’s lack a playmaker to connect the midfield to Chicharito and Giovani Dos Santos.

 

Italy is a better team than Mexico, but then again, Italy is better than most national teams. Italy is capable of beating Spain, Brazil, or Germany, so Mexico’s inability to stop Balotelli from finally scoring doesn’t make Mexico’s defense weak. Mexico’s next game should answer some questions about which Mexican players deserve to start and what Mexico’s best line-up is.

 

There’s a strong argument to be made that some of Mexico’s best players such as Diego Reyes (center back) and Jorge Torres Nilo (left back) deserved the start, but beating an Italian side where the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, and Claudio Marchisio were playing behind Mario Balotelli was always going to be a tall order for Mexico.

 

Italy had too much skill and big game pedigree at every position, and despite Barzagli’s miscontrol and clumsy clip of Dos Santos’ heels, the Italian defense at full strength is difficult for any national team to break down.

 

Italy’s pair of outside backs Ignazio Abate and Mattia De Sciglio both stamped their imprint on the game against Mexico, and the play of Abate and De Sciglio was part of a performance by Italy where Italy was effective and strong at every position.

 

Both Balotelli and Pirlo were equally influential in this game, and a passer like Pirlo playing balls to a technical and athletic prodigy like Balotelli was too much for Mexico.

 

Pirlo made his 100th cap for Italy a memorable one with his goal, but there’s no shame in losing to an Italian team that plays as a unit with elite players at every position. Mexico played Italy very close the entire game, and Giovani Dos Santos and Chicharito showed flashes of excellent attacking play.

 

No team is totally immune to an Andrea Pirlo free kick or a Mario Balotelli goal.

 

It will be interesting to see how much better Italy can play with Stephan El Shaarawy partnering with Balotelli, and Balotelli has started things off well by opening up his goal tally in the Confederations Cup in the first game.

 

After receiving a yellow card for ripping off his shirt after his game-winning goal, Balotelli will have to be careful not to pick up a second yellow in the next game.

 

With Balotelli leading the attack, Italy can beat any opponent at any time.

GOLEADA: Brazil Defeats Japan 3-0 in Confederations Cup

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Neymar opened the scoring with a half-volleyed golaço. (Photo: Vanderlei Almeida/AFP)
Neymar opened the scoring with a half-volleyed golaço. (Photo: Vanderlei Almeida/AFP)

 

Neymar silenced his critics with a half-volley golaço in the third minute of Brazil’s opening Confederations Cup match against Japan in Brasilia.

 

On a field that resembled a slip ‘n slide, Brazil’s three goal victory over Japan was exactly the sort of emphatic win that Brazil needed to get their foreign and domestic critics off their backs.

 

All three Brazilian goals were golaços, which gave the Seleção the satisfaction of knowing that they not only defeated Japan easily, but that the goals were electrifying enough for a not easily impressed Brazilian public.

 

Brazil’s first goal came courtesy of a Marcelo cross, which was chested down to Neymar by Fred, and Neymar half-volleyed Fred’s chested pass into the upper 90.

 

It was a goal that showed why Neymar’s technical ability is so revered worldwide. Neymar’s golaço registered high on the difficulty scale, and it will likely lift some of the pressure off his shoulders and allow him to play with more joy in Brazil’s upcoming games.

 

The second Brazilian goal was scored by Corinthians’ goal-scoring box-to-box midfielder, Paulinho (a player heavily linked with Inter Milan), and the goal off the half-turn showed his ability to score goals from the midfield.

 

While Neymar’s goal was the most riveting of the three goals, the third goal where Jô megged the Japanese goalkeeper was an example of Oscar’s excellent passing ability, as Oscar threaded an expertly-weighted pass through the Japanese defense. Both Oscar’s pass and Jô’s finish were equally artistic.

 

Japan is a technically-skilled team, but this game against Brazil offered little in the way of highlights or positive points for Japan. The grass was way too soft, wet, and slippery for both teams, so the field conditions weren’t really the main problem with Japan’s play. Japan is a team that played well-below its ability, and this loss should provide the Japanese coaching staff with plenty of video evidence of areas that need to be improved in the upcoming games.

 

This was an important statement game for both Neymar and the Seleção, and Brazil’s convincing victory was just what the Brazilian national team needed to build up some new hope and confidence, in addition to gaining the respect of its fans again.