One Blowout, One Snoozer

2009-06-15T15:25:16-04:00

2009-06-14T16:54:17-04:00

2009-06-15T15:25:16-04:00

Soccerjunkie09

Dallas 794680

18 I don't understand how a team like Spain can fall into such a ridiculously easy bracket while, for example, the US draws Brazil, Italy and Egypt, but I don't guess that I'm alone in failing to comprehend the vagaries of the group pairings. It's too bad, since the quality of the football from Spain could be so much better if the Spanish were truly tested by a quality opponent. Oh well . . . MS Dallas, Texas 5750460

2009-06-14T20:00:06-04:00

marcusosul

Scottsdale 442889

6 Spain could send their U-20 to play in this group. That group is dreadful. They play the 72 (South Africa), 77 (Iraq), and 82 (New Zealand) in their group. The other group has the 4 (Italy), 5 (Brazil), 14 (US), and 40 (Egypt) teams. After watching today, I'm amazed those teams in Spain's group are ranked that high. Needless to say whoever wins the other group will waltz into the final when they abuse whatever the second place team is. How do they do the draws for this? There's such a huge disparity in the two groups, I'm curious how they do it for these kinds of tourneys. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html#confederation=0&rank=182 5739684

2009-06-15T09:22:11-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/161/635/thumb/LIV11-1.jpg 3347 WI

Zizou10

Milwaukee 161935

How do they do the draws for this? There's such a huge disparity in the two groups, I'm curious how they do it for these kinds of tourneys.

17 They looked at the teams and figured out the best way for South Africa to get to the semi-finals. Then they make sure the "draw" looks good so that 10 years down the round we won't talk about it like the 1985 NBA "lottery". 5742635

2009-06-15T01:20:22-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/159/370/thumb/FANT-CREPUSCULO-03-SUNDAW.jpg 19 SP

CEU_CARMESIM

CAMPINAS 159670

16 Sorry but USA will get 1 or 0 points at the end of their participation in the confederations cup. 5741577

2009-06-15T01:16:31-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/159/370/thumb/FANT-CREPUSCULO-03-SUNDAW.jpg 19 SP

CEU_CARMESIM

CAMPINAS 159670

15 Asian champion Iraq was with the Brazilian coach Jordan Vieira. 5741531

2009-06-15T00:13:22-04:00

SirJeffersII

Reno 443436

14 Actually, Australia don't have already qualified for the World Cup through the Asian confederation. Not only this, but they have yet to concede a goal. I agree that Oceania should be integrated into Asian in terms of qualifying; but you have to give some props to Australia for thrashing the competition so far in their new "region." 5741183

2009-06-14T23:57:53-04:00

cbarlow

Albuquerque 85187

13 A look at the All whites roster you will realized that only four players play in their domestic league. Unlike other countries, this is not a good thing because the rest of the players play for second or third rate overseas leagues. Unlike some who continue to support Oceania's having a playoff in order to get to the World Cup, I disagree. I suggest that Oceania simply should just be disbanded. If the all whites play in Asia, they probably would not even be able to make it out of the third round of the qualifying. Asia's playing standard has elevated so much since the mid 80s that they have left both Australia and New Zealand behind. The days of the socceroos and the all whites beating up on the Asian sides are ancient history. As for the rest of the nations in Oceania, they should just let them play in first round matches in Asia. At least they will have some interesting and decent competitions. While Australia's 31-0 blow out of American Samoa grabbed the headlines back in 02, what people tended to forget was even after they changed the format in 06, Fiji still beat up American Samoa 11-0. It would make more sense for teams like American Samoa to play opposition of the same level, such as Macao or East Timor. It did not help anyone to have one sided games. When you have games that both sides can be competitive, even if the teams are at the bottom of the FIFA ranking, they have a better motivation to play (as long as they can afford it financially), instead of simply withdraw from the competition. 5741116

2009-06-14T23:05:47-04:00

Joe Bob Briggs

Mount Kisco 515950

12 If I can give at least one miserable defence for the Red Bulls it is that Andrew Boyens has played a grand total of 169 minutes this season. Also Simon Elliot has started maybe five games for the Quakes. So neither of these guys are burning up MLS. 5740760

2009-06-14T18:17:15-04:00

Brando84

Santa Clara 787106

4 Where were all of the fans? How can you not fill a stadium to watch spain play? Bring them to Cali, I'll watch them. 5739229

2009-06-14T22:51:46-04:00

Sigma1914

Longwood 794351

Where were all of the fans? How can you not fill a stadium to watch spain play? Bring them to Cali, I'll watch them.

11 Having lived in South Africa the best way to explain it is this. Rustenburg is to Johanesburg as Utica is to NYC. There's no comparison between the size and type of people you get. Also I hate those damn vuvuzela's. I never went to a local game because they sound like crap and the South African league sucks as far as competition is concerned. 5740644

2009-06-14T22:46:58-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/777/450/thumb/preston.gif 211 CA

89invincible

Vallejo 778110

10 South Africa were very unlucky. Not just the Parker deflection, but they had several chances, and Iraq had almost none. I think if this were a final, South Africa would have eventually scored. I think Iraq got the result they were looking for in a 0-0 draw. 5740549

2009-06-14T21:05:56-04:00

Brando84

Santa Clara 787106

9 Rather than getting rid of Lalas, espn needs to work on getting rid of those damn horns first. I had to turn down the tv volume so I didn't have to listen to them. 5740081

JOHANNESBURG -- Three thoughts after Iraq's 0-0 tie with South Africa and Spain's 5-0 victory over New Zealand on Day One of the Confederations Cup: * Vicente del Bosque is not the Tom Osborne of soccer. It's sort of ludicrous to even analyze a blowout like the one Spain put down on New Zealand--the phrase "Fernando Torres 17-minute hat trick" is all you really need to know--but the striking thing is that Spain throttled down significantly in the second half and didn't try to run up the score. The Kiwis looked like a college frat team, and it didn't exactly speak well for MLS that two of the New Zealand starters compete in the U.S. league (including New York Red Bulls defender Andy Boyens, whose brutal penalty-box whiff gift-wrapped Spain's fifth goal for David Villa). * Bora did it again. How many times have we seen Bora Milutinovic's teams exceed their expectations in the first game of a big tournament? Bora's Iraqis got a big point out of their scoreless tie with host South Africa, an echo of previous Bora first-game surprises with Costa Rica (a 1-0 winner over Scotland in World Cup 1990) and Nigeria (a 3-2 winner over Spain in World Cup '98). Iraq has been terrible over the past year, but Bora had the Lions of the Mesopotamia playing organized (albeit conservative) soccer after having had only a month to work with the team since taking over. The result: a tie that will spark a crisis of confidence among a fragile South Africa team and its fans. * South Africa might be cursed. How rare is it to see an offensive player clear a sure goal for his own team off the opponent's goal line? Kagisho Dikgacoi's 80th-minute header had beaten the goalkeeper and was rocketing into the Iraqi goal, only for teammate Bernard Parker to block its path, clearing the ball off the Iraqi line. It would have been a nice goal, too, thanks largely to the magnificent cross from right back Siboniso Gaxa, South Africa's best player on the day. Overall, though, the host country's performance was thoroughly underwhelming, not least because it was missing its two most dangerous attackers: midfielder Steven Pienaar (who played only the final eight minutes due to illness) and forward Benni McCarthy (who wasn't even called into the team). Through-balls: The horns that South African fans blow in the stands are called vuvuzelas, but they don't strike me as anything different from the plastic air horns that drive everyone nuts in U.S. stadiums. How is this a good thing? ... Spain has so many good attacking midfielders that I think the absence of Marcos Senna will hurt more than the loss of Andrés Iniesta ... Call me crazy, but I'm guessing the ESPN announcers back home didn't even try to pronounce the cool Xhosa clicking sound in Gaxa's name ... The sheer number of unforced passing errors by South Africa was embarrassing ... Let's be honest: the South Africa-Iraq game was pretty awful. I don't think Spain will be quaking after seeing this videotape. What are your thoughts on Day One of the Confederations Cup? Post them below, and come back tomorrow for more from South Africa. Grant Wahl's new book, The Beckham Experiment, comes out on July 14. You can pre-order it <a href="http://tinyurl.com/layry6" target="_blank">here</a>. You can also find him now on <a href="twitter.com/GrantWahl" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 67361 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615