Confederations Cup 2009 Group A Update

The second round of Confederation Cup Group A matches were today and nothing out of the ordinary occurred-- no real upsets, the teams that were supposed to win won. As promised I am posting this entry to give an overview of the day and give my prediction for tomorrow's Group B matches.

Group A (Wednesday June 17)

Match 1: Spain vs Iraq: As I predicted, Euro 2008 champions Spain beat Iraq and predicted the score correctly too (1-0). Iraq plays well and I was pretty sure the match was going to remain tight. The win gives Spain the points they needed to qualify for the semifinals no matter how they finish their match against the host nation South Africa. Spain is currently at the top of the group with 6 points in their two matches. Iraq opened up with a chance early in the match in the 9th minute that would have put them in front. However, Spain did dominate on possession. Despite this, Iraq was just as stubborn as in their 0-0 tie against South Africa. In other words, Iraq did not make the match easy for the European champions. Spain is on their way to breaking another record. They are currently tied with three other national teams for longest winning streak in international football/soccer-- 14 wins in a row. For the complete FIFA match report, click here..

Match 2: South Africa vs New Zealand: As with their match against Spain, New Zealand did not stand much of a chance against the South Africans. Although my prediction was that South Africa would definitely win, I forgot to predict the score (I apologize for that, by the way!). The ESPN commentators were saying before the match that South Africa has been put on a lot of pressure hosting a tournament like this (if this is true, the pressure of next summer will be really high as they are getting set to host the World Cup). The coach, Brazilian Joel Santana, is also under a lot of pressure because his job is supposedly on the line if he unable to South Africa out of this group. This is a bad move on the part of the South African Football Federation right before the big competition next summer being that a new coach might not be able to organize the team properly in one year. However, South Africa should be able to move on the knockout round after defeating New Zealand 2-0. For more information regarding the match, see the official FIFA match report.

Group A Standings (as of Wednesday June 17)

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1. Spain 2 2 0 0 6 0 +6 6
2. South Africa 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 4
3. Iraq 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1 1
4. New Zealand 2 0 0 2 0 7 −7 0

As you can see, Spain is still in the top spot and has already qualified for the semifinals. The top two teams advance. The only way Spain will not finish in first place is if South Africa beats them on Saturday. If that happens, South Africa will have 7 points and Spain will stay at 6. In this situation, Iraq would be eliminated no matter how they do against New Zealand. New Zealand is already eliminated. If Spain and South Africa tie, Spain will keep the top spot and South Africa will still qualify no matter how Iraq does against New Zealand. Iraq could advance only if they win against New Zealand--shouldn't be too hard. However, Spain must win against South Africa in order for this to happen. If Spain and South Africa tie, South Africa will have 5 points which would make it impossible for Iraq to catch up with them. However an Iraq win and South Africa loss is the only way Iraq could have a chance but this would put South Africa and Iraq tied on points. This is the most probable situation since Iraq is most likely going to beat New Zealand and Spain already has the momentum and will most likely stay undefeated throughout the tournament. What Iraq would need is a superior goal difference over South Africa (4 or 5 goals against New Zealand would be good) and pray that Spain's defense keeps South Africa out of the net.

Predictions for next match day (Thursday June 18th)

Group B will have their second round of matches tomorrow with CONCACAF Champion United States facing South American champion/Confederations Cup defending champion Brazil and African champion Egypt going up against reigning World Champions Italy. Both matches will be shown on ESPN or ESPN2 if you are in the United States at 10 am and 2:30 pm.

Match 1 (10 am): USA vs Brazil: This will be a very tough match for the United States but seeing that Egypt was able to come back after going into halftime down 3 goals and were able to come from behind to make 3-3 by the final minutes, the United States could come out of this match with a point, but it is pretty hard to predict. Brazil is definitely beatable but with Kaka on the field, it will definitely be a tough one. 2-1 for Brazil is my prediction.

Match 2 (2:30 pm): Italy vs Egypt: I was really surprised by the way Egypt came back against Brazil. I turned on the TV just before halftime to check the score and noticed that it was 3-0 for Brazil. I was ready to count Egypt out. I had to turn off the TV to get some work done and when I checked the score online when it was over, it was 4-3 for Brazil. The match will not be an easy one for Italy and I expect Egypt to play very well as they did in the second half against Brazil. A 1-1 tie is my prediction in this one.

Group B is the most exciting of the two groups. Right now all teams are still in it. The results of tomorrow's matches should make it a little bit clearer.

My next post regarding the 2009 Confederations Cup will be a little earlier tomorrow night, probably at around 7 pm eastern time. The next post will include an overview of tomorrow's Group B matches and predictions for Saturday's Group A matches.