Japan GiovinKO'd

   

Italy line-up: Buffon, Maggio (Abate, 59'), Chiellini, De Sciglio, Barzagli, Aquilani (Giovinco, 30'), De Rossi, Montolivo, Pirlo, Giaccherini (Marchisio, 68'), Balotelli

Japan line-up: Kawashima, Nagatomo, Uchida (Sakai, 73'),  Konno, Yoshida, Honda, Endo, Kagawa, Hasebe (Nakamura, 90'), Okazaki, Maeda (Havenaar, 79')

Italy edge a fantastic seven goal thriller to send them through and eliminate Japan. It was without doubt the best game of the tournament so far and one that Italy may feel fortunate to have won. It was a topsy turvy affair as a Keisuke Honda penalty and Shinji Kagawa strike put the Japanese 2-0 ahead. Goals from Daniele De Rossi and an Astuto Uchida own goal either side of half time levelled the match before an extremely harsh penalty was converted by Mario Balotelli to give Italy the lead. Shinji Okazaki levelled for Japan and they looked like they were going to win, but only managed to hit the woodwork on three occasions. Then Japan were hit by the sucker punch as first half substitute Sebastian Giovinco popped up to win the match with four minutes to play.

The match began with Japan going all out attack and Italy failing to get out of their own half. Ryoichi Maeda had an early header that was straight and Gianluigi Buffon and Yasuhito Endo fired a warning shot over the bar. Italy didn't create their first attack until the 12th minute which ended up being a cross that was punched clear by Eiji Kawashima.

Japan continued to bear down on Italy and this time Shinji Kagawa, who was probably the player of the first half, hit a fantastic long range effort that was bound for the top corner until Buffon tipped it over the bar. Japan would finally get their breakthrough on the 20-minute mark when a sloppy back pass from Mattia De Sciglio was almost pounced upon by Maeda. Buffon looked to come and took out the striker, leaving the referee to point to the spot. However replays showed that Buffon actually got the ball and it wasn't a penalty. But Buffon was still lucky to remain on the pitch as the referee only brandished a yellow card. After the commotion, Honda stepped up and coolly converted in to the bottom corner, leaving Buffon rooted to the spot.

The goal didn't really kick Italy in to gear. The thought they should have had a penalty when Balotelli went down but the referee awarded a free-kick to Japan for handball. By the half hour mark, Cesare Prandelli had had enough and decided to change things, bringing Giovinco on for Alberto Aquilani.

This still didn't change things immediately and three minutes later, Japan were 2-0 ahead. Italy looked have defended a corner but it came back in to the box. The defenders seemed to miss it and Kagawa was the first to react, swivelling to smash the ball in to the bottom corner, sending the Asians in to a frenzy.

Italy finally grew in to the game with five minutes left of the half. Andrea Pirlo began to get a foothold and sent a warning with a free-kick that just went over the bar. A minute later and Pirlo was causing havoc again, this time fizzing a low cross along the box that went out for a corner. Pirlo would take that corner and De Rossi was on hand to head home at the near post to give Italy a chance. They were almost level before half-time when Emanuele Giaccherini found space in the box and hit the post.

Italy would then level five minutes in to the second half and it was a goal that Japan should have easily prevented. Southampton's Maya Yoshida was guilty of not clearing his lines and Giovinco managed to prevent the ball from going out of play. As he surged in to the box, he slid the ball across where Balotelli was waiting for a tap in, only for Uchida to unfortunately slide it in to his own net.

A minute later and Italy were given a huge slice of luck. A Giovinco shot took a couple of deflections as it rolled to Kawashima. But the referee ending up pointing the spot for handball. Replays showed the ball did hit Makoto Hasebe on the arm but this was after it had already hit his thigh while he was in the slide. The arm wasn't in an unnatural position and a penalty was extremely harsh. Not that it bothered Balotelli who nonchalantly stepped up and converted to give Italy the lead. Giaccherini almost made it 4-2 before the hour mark but his effort was parried by Kawashima for a corner.

Japan weren't disheartened though and they continued to attack. Kagawa was causing problems after his cross was poorly punched by Buffon which caused a bit of a scramble. Kagawa then found a superb ball over the top for Maeda but his touch was a little heavy and it caused him to run out of room.

Their persistence paid off though as they would find that equaliser on 69-minutes. It came straight from an Endo free-kick, he sent it in and Okazaki had made the run to the front post to head home and keep their hopes of staying the competition alive. Italy had resorted to constant defending and it looked like they would come undone.

Soon it was all Japan again. Honda performed a fantastic run, beating three defenders before having his shot parried by Buffon, a great advertisement for his free services next season. Hasebe came close with a rifled effort that just went over the bar and if anyone was going to score, it was going to be Japan.

With eight minutes to go, Japan came even closer to grabbing the winner; Okazaki fired a shot against the post after a low cross had been cleared out to him. The rebound fell to Kagawa whose header against the ground bounced up and agonisingly hit the cross bar.

Four minutes later and Italy broke the Japanese hearts. The Azzurri managed to break and Claudio Marchisio was put through on goal. He squared along the box for Giovinco to tap home, a substitute that was very much vindicated.

The drama wasn't over though as Japan still came back and thought they had equalised. They once again hit the cross bar from a short corner. The ball fell to Yoshida to poked the ball home, but the flag was up for offside, rightly, and Japan had to conceded defeat in what was an extraordinary game.

Italy will now battle it out with Brazil to decide who will win Group A, and probably avoid Spain. Japan and Mexico will be battling for pride in the other match.

Brazil Two Good For Mexico

  

Brazil line-up: Julio Cesar, Alves, Thiago, David Luiz, Marcelo, Oscar (Hernanes, 61'), Dias, Paulinho, Fred (Jo, 82'), Neymar, Hulk (Lucas, 78')

Mexico line-up: Corona, Rodriguez, Salcido, Moreno, Torres (Barrera, 70'), Mier, Flores (Herrera, 58'), Torrado (Jimenez, 88'), Guardado, Giovani, Hernandez

Two fantastic pieces of skill from Neymar, at either end of the game, have all but ended Mexico's Confederation's Cup. A fantastic after just nine minutes and then an injury time assist was enough for Brazil to make it two wins out of two and all but book their place in the semi-finals. 

The atmosphere was electric in Fortaleza with almost 60,000 Brazilians singing the national anthem at full volume. This looked to have inspired the national team as they began the match like a house on fire. The writing was on the wall for Mexico from the start as Oscar looked have given Brazil the lead after just six minutes. It came from a Neymar ball across goal, but the flag had been up for some time and the goal was ruled out.

The crowd would then erupt after just nine minutes when Brazil were 1-0 ahead for good this time. A Dani Alves cross was headed away by Francisco Rodriguez. But the header would only fall to Neymar who pulled off a fantastic volley from just inside the box to score his second fantastic goal of the tournament.

Brazil continued to be dominant as the game reached the quarter of an hour mark. Dani Alves almost made it 2-0 with a delightful chip that cause Jose Corona to back pedal before just about tipping the sublime effort over the bar. But that was about as good as it got for the South Americans as the half wore on.

Mexico weren't down and out by any means and they tried grow throughout the first half. Hiram Mier almost found an equaliser after brilliantly beating two defenders before firing just wide. Whenever Brazil weren't on the ball, they looked vulnerable. But whenever Neymar was on the ball, it looked like anything was going to happen. The striker almost scored his second within half an hour but his powerful effort just went over the bar.

Brazil didn't really make any more of it as the half drew to a close. It was more about Mexico in an attacking sense but for all of Giovani Dos Santos' great play down the wing, they just couldn't form anything to trouble Julio Cesar.

Brazil started the second half like they did the first, with a disallowed goal. This time it was a free-kick that caused trouble but the header back across for Thiago Silva to tap in came from an offside position and the flag rightly went up.

Hulk had a fantastic chance of doubling Brazil's lead after Neymar had once again put him through. But the Zenit striker made a hash of it and sliced his effort horribly wide. But after that, the half again slightly went quiet.

Apart from the flashes of brilliance, Brazil weren't overly amazing and Mexico, if they showed a little more quality, could have caused a bit more damage. The substitution of Pablo Barrera was extremely positive and he caused a lot of problems for Marcelo. Mexico did go close when Giovani squared a ball across where Javier Hernandez was on hand to tap it home. The Manchester United would have done so, only for the solid David Luiz to slide in and clear it away for a corner.

The match was finished off in injury time when Neymar fantastically beat two defenders to cut inside in the box. The striker was going to shoot before changing his mind in a split second to open his foot and square the ball across for substitute Jo to hit home.      

Nigeria Hit Tahiti For Six

 

Tahiti line-up: Samin, A. Tehau, Vahirua (Atani, 70'), Ludivion, Caroine, Bourebare, Vallar (Faatiarau, 54'), Chong Hue, Aitamai, J. Tehau, Simon (Lemaire, 78')           

Nigeria line-up: Enyeama, Oboabona, Echiejile, Ambrose, Omeruo (Egwueke, 74'), Mikel, Ogude, Mba (Ogu, 57'), Musa, Ujah (Brown, 51'), Oduamadi

Nigeria begin the Confederations Cup in the way that everyone expected them to, with a convincing victory over minnows Tahiti. For many, a 6-1 defeat would be considered as a horror show, but it's probably the best the French Polynesians could have hoped for. A goal for Jonathan Tehau could end up being the highlight of the tournament for Tahiti, who gained many supporters and a lot of respect for quite a good performance.

Contrary to many people's predictions, Tahiti never sat back with a deep line just ushering Nigeria on to them and actually looked to attack whenever possible. This began from the outset with Steevy Chong Hue looking promising down the wing. But the optimism was quickly kicked out of them after just five minutes when they went behind in unfortunate circumstances; Uwa Echiejile hit a shot from just outside the box which looked like Xavier Samin was diving to cover. But the ball took a touch of Jonathan Tehau before taking a bigger deflection off Nicolas Vallar and wrong footing the keeper to give the African Champions the lead.

Tahiti weren't deterred though and continued to attack with their only professional player, Marama Vahirua, hitting a shot that Vincent Enyeama had to tip over. But fears for a cricket score began to grow stronger when Nigeria scored  second after just ten minutes; a poor pass from the Tahitians was pounced upon by John Obi Mikel who then played Nnamdi Oduamadi through on goal. Oduamadi made no mistake with his effort and coolly finished it.        

A lot of the match was about Nigeria taking the biscuit by trying to overplay and humiliate Tahiti in to conceding goals. But this somewhat backfired and if Nigeria had focused a little more on shooting, they may have scored a few more. Instead, there was a lot of missed chances and some comical performances from the Nigerian front line.

Nigeria were then gifted a third after missing a couple of glorious chances. It came on 26-minutes when Ahmed Musa found space down the wing and sent a low cross across the box. It looked like a relatively easy collect for Samin but he somehow spilt it and the ball fell to Oduamadi who tapped home his second of the match.

Again, this didn't stop Tahiti from playing nor did it harm Samin's confidence. There were more moments where the Nigerians found themselves one on one with the keeper but Samin managed to dive at the feet and win the ball every time. The roof was nearly lifted just past the half hour mark when Chong Hue again broke down the wing and began to run towards goal. The winger then played the ball across for Alvin Tehau to tap in from a yard but Kenneth Omeruo was there to put it out from a corner deny Tahiti from their piece of history.

Nigeria continued to waste chances in the second half, this time they resorted to low crosses across the empty box for one of their strikers to tap home. The first of which came from Oduamadi, but Musa somehow mis-timed his effort and shanked it wide.

Nine minutes in and history was made, the samba beat was mixed with Pacific pride as Tahiti surpassed everyone's expectations and scored. It came from a corner which went all the way to the back post where Jonathan Tehau came running in to beat Efe Ambrose and head the ball in to the back of the net.

 Nigeria thought they had made it 4-1 on 68-minutes when another low cross was this time tapped home by Oduamadi for his perceived hat-trick. But Tahiti were given a gift because the linesman put his flag up for offside even though replays suggest that Oduamadi was level. But Nigeria did get their fourth just a minute later when Oduamadi again took advantage of a poor pass. He sent another low cross along the six yard where Jonathan Tehau was unfortunate to be there and put the ball in to his own net.

As the match wore on, it was clear that Tahiti were tiring in the wake of their best ever opponents. Oduamadi managed to finally get his hat-trick on 76-minutes in a replay to his offside goal. This time it was substitute Ideye Brown who put the ball across for Oduamadi to tap home in to empty net. The sixth and final goal came four minutes later when Samin again failed to hold on to a cross. This time it fell to Echiejile who would score a goal all on his own this time.

Despite being physically tired, Tahiti still continued to attack. Jonathan Tehau tried to make amends for his unfortunate own goal but taking a decent shot that went just wide. Substitute Stanley Atani also had a speculative shot from long range that was easily stopped by Enyeama. But Tahiti definitely performed better than many thought and have done themselves proud. It's just the small matter of Spain next for the small island nation.

Who's The Dado

     

Spain line-up: Casillas, Arbeloa, Ramos, Pique, Alba, Xavi (Martinez, 77'), Busquets, Fabregas (Cazorla, 65'), Pedro (Mata, 81'), Soldado, Iniesta

Uruguay line-up: Muslera, Maxi Pereira, Lugano, Godin, Caceres, Rodriguez, Gargano (Lodeiro, 63'), Perez (Forlan, 69'), Ramirez (Gonzalez, 46'), Suarez, Cavani   

Spain begin their quest of becoming the first nation to win three consecutive tournaments with a victory over Uruguay. The World and European Champions were in control pretty much throughout and Uruguay were perhaps fortunate that Spain didn’t try to pepper Fernando Muslera’s goal. A Diego Lugano own goal and a finish from Roberto Soldado put Spain 2-0 ahead in the first half before Luis Suarez scored a sublime free-kick late on to make the closing moments more interesting.

Spain dominated from the outset and the first warning sign came after just five minutes when Jordi Alba flashed a great cross across goal and Uruguay were lucky that no-one could get on the end of it. By ten minutes, Spain had 92% possession and they sent a second warning a minute later as Andres Iniesta let a pass run for Cesc Fabregas to unleash a powerful which hit the inside of the post before going out.

Muslera’s hands were stung just after the quarter of an hour mark when a rapid interchange led to Iniesta firing straight at the keeper who had to parry the ball upwards before catching it at the second attempt. The Uruguay lock was finally picked on 20-minutes when a corner came out to Pedro, he fired an effort that looked to be going wide of the right hand post but a wicked deflection off Lugano sent the ball left, completely bamboozling Muslera, and in to the net.

Uruguay finally had their first attack shortly afterwards with a free-kick that ended up being headed wide, it looked like it was off a Uruguay head but the referee did point for a corner which came to nothing. As the half wore on, poor challenges began to fly in which caused tempers to fray a little bit. This did result in a well worked Uruguay free-kick finding Edison Cavani four yards out but his header was straight at Iker Casillas.

The South Americans were made to rue that miss as Spain would be 2-0 ahead on 32-minutes; Fabregas found Soldado with a superb reverse pass to split the defence. Soldado took a touch to set himself before firing past Muslera from just inside the box, truly vindicating Vincente Del Bosque’s decision to pick him over Fernando Torres. Spain would also come close to adding third just before half-time when a corner saw Gerard Pique smashed a point blank shot straight at Muslera.

Uruguay did look to change things at half-time in the early periods of the second half, but they were really struggling to find anything to harm the Spanish defence. For most of the half, Spain controlled the tempo with dominance in possession and would decide to attack whenever they felt it was necessary. The only real drama saw Sergio Ramos escape without a card after a seemingly two footed tackle on substitute Nicolas Lodeiro which could have easily been a red in a different game.

There were a few flashes from Spain, nothing to trouble Muslera, but the game was looking like it was going to peter out towards the end. Soldado did test Muslera with a straight shot but then Uruguay managed to pull one back with two minutes remaining; Ramos was causing trouble again, this time fouling Suarez. The want away Liverpool striker got up and stood over the free-kick before curling a fantastic effort in to the top corner and setting up a grandstand finish.

But Spain tried to calm any nerves when Soldado was perceived to be through. But the striker went down under a Gonzalez challenge on the edge of the box, to Spain’s fury nothing was given and Gonzalez remained on the pitch. Uruguay instantly went up the other end a teasing Suarez cross had to be punched away before it fell to Cavani. Spain managed to hold on and should book their place in the semi-finals with victory over minnows Tahiti in the next match.