Brazilian pros and cons
Brazil, Spain and Italy have all treated the World Cup dress rehearsal as if it might as well be the real thing, while the 4-3 thriller in which the Azzurri drew on equal measures of resilience and good fortune to see off a wonderfully entertaining Japanese side was, by any definition of a football match, one for the ages.
Even the involvement of whipping boys Tahiti, which should only have accentuated the anticipated Mickey Mouse factor, was not without its moments of romance and modest heroism. By the end of their three games they had, it’s inescapably true, shipped a whopping 24 goals but, in always trying to play football, hanging in there as best they could and, along the way, even grabbing a goal against Nigeria and keeping out a penalty against Uruguay, the amateurs won over the local support and put a smile on the stoniest of faces.
Or indeed a tear in the eye. After Jonathan Tehau had scored that historic goal for his country in the 6-1 defeat by the Nigerians, manager Eddy Etaeta remarked: “I was deeply moved, almost crying. We watch World Cups on TV. Today we were actors. Tahiti was watching. Our President sent us a message and suspended a cabinet meeting for it.”
On RTÉ, however, Kenny Cunningham was deeply unmoved after the minnows were thrashed 10-0 by Spain, noting with disdain that there were smiles on the faces of the players as they came off the pitch and insisting that even amateurs should show “a certain degree of professionalism and pride in what they’re doing. Nobody wants to be embarrassed and taken apart like the Tahitians were, whether you’re playing at an amateur or professional level.”
His fellow panellist Richie Sadlier demurred, making the perfectly valid point that the former Ireland skipper was applying professional standards to non-professionals but, if nothing else, the ensuing ding-dong between the pair confirmed why RTÉ’s football analysis is still the one to beat – their pundits can even work up a row over Tahitian football.
The seriousness with which the big guns are taking the Confederations Cup was underlined by Thursday’s marathon semi-final between Spain and Italy, a game which saw the World and European champions made to look distinctly pedestrian for long periods by a disciplined Italian side whose speedy counter-punching might even have seen the game put to bed in their favour by half-time had a clinical striker like Mario Balotelli been available.
As it was, the Spanish survived into extra-time when the fresh legs of Juan Mata and Jesus Navas tipped the balance of the contest from the increasingly exhausted Italians, with the television close-ups of the veteran Andrea Pirlo appearing to suggest that the great man’s face was actually melting in the heat and humidity of tropical Fortaleza.
All that, and then a masterclass in penalty kicks as the shoot-out was finally settled by the 13th successful effort in 14, Navas – who looks like he could terrify a few full-backs in the Premier League for Manchester City next season – converting the decisive spot-kick to send Spain through to the final in Rio tomorrow night.
Lying in wait are hosts Brazil who have blown hot and cold throughout the tournament and relied to a perhaps unhealthy extent on their new messiah Neymar to produce the game-changing goals and assists. If Navas at the Etihad is intriguing then the prospect of Neymar at the Nou Camp, playing alongside Messi, Iniesta, Xavi et al, is positively incendiary, even if the player’s penchant for puerile theatrics, which has also been on show at this Confederations Cup, suggests he could end up loathed as much as loved in Europe.
In any event, the popular consensus is that tomorrow night in Rio we have the “dream final” and “the one everyone wanted”. Which is true from a purely football perspective but unlikely to cut much ice with the hundreds of thousands of protesters who have filled the streets of Brazilian cities in recent days to protest against corruption, poor public services and heavy taxes.
That the World Cup warm-up tournament has become the focal point for public rage is no coincidence: having originally been assured that the new stadia would be built with money from the private sector, ordinary Brazilians are now having to pick up a vastly inflated tab, and at the expense of urgently needed investment in health and education.
Even legendary Brazilian striker Romario, now a Socialist Party Congressman who originally supported the country’s World Cup bid, was moved to ask this week: “Why are we organising the most expensive World Cup in history, without any of the benefits to the community we were promised?”
The immediate consequence is that it looks like tomorrow’s final in Maracana will have to take place inside yet another security exclusion zone, as protestors plan to take to the streets of Rio again. Try telling them that there isn’t a con in Confederations Cup.
