Confederations Cup 2013 Preview

Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 Preview

Brazil to be put to the test in June's Confederations Cup

Paul Tobbitt

As the domestic football seasons in Europe draw to a close, the focus will switch to the international scene for the Confederations Cup in Brazil.

Eight nations will compete in what is essentially a test run for next year's 2014 World Cup. It promises to be a stern test for the home nation who currently find themselves under severe pressure from their fans and the media.

The performance of the seleção has been far from ideal since Felipe Scolari took over for his second stint as coach.  They have fallen to 19th in the FIFA rankings, although the significance of this is highly debatable. More than anything the competition is seen by many as an opportunity for the five time World Cup winners to win over the public, who in the main remain highly skeptical about their chances of lifting the trophy in 2014.

The format of the competition is two groups of four which will provide four semi finalists. Brazil will compete in Group A, along with Italy, Japan and Mexico. While Group B will be disputed between the current World champions Spain, Uruguay, Nigeria and Haiti.

The tournament kicks off at the new national stadium, Mané Garrincha in Brasilia with the host nation taking on Japan on the 15th of June. The final will take place two weeks later on the 30th of June at the revamped Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil Squad - Faith in Youth

Brazil (the holders of the Confederations Cup) may not have as yet managed to mould a team together but there are some highly talented young individual players in the Brazilian squad. The challenge will obviously be how to maximize the talent to reach their potential with just one year to go before the real show starts.

Defensively the seleção appear to be strong with the first choice centre back pairing of David Luiz and Tiago providing an experienced partnership.  While the left back position is still up for grabs, Barcelona's Daniel Alves will continue to serve as the right back.

Dante, who has helped Bayern Munich to the title and Champions League final is quality back up should the need arise.

There also does not appear to be any lack of defensive midfielders in the squad. Even without the inclusion of Chelsea's Ramires, Scolari can call upon the likes of Luiz Gustavo of Bayern, Hernanes of Lazio and Paulinho who has performed consistently to a high level for Corinthians for the last couple of years.

Lucas of PSG, Oscar of Chelsea and the star of the team Neymar, now at Barcelona after his move from Santos) will be relied upon to provide the spark of creativity. With Lucas and Neymar in the line up the team have the potential to be particularly effective on the counter attack with the pace they both possess.

There is a definite lack of centre forwards who can lead the line for Brazil. The experienced Fred has been involved with the team on a regular basis recently and is probably the favourite to start as the most advanced striker. While both Hulk and Leandro Damiao have their strengths, they have not convinced as yet that they are worthy of a first team place.

There are question marks over some of the players and recent displays would suggest that while the first team will be competitive, there is not much quality in general terms in the squad players. The one thing that is for sure is that we will certainly be in a much better position to assess the Brazilian team and direction it is heading a month from now as the Confederations Cup concludes.

Past Winners of the Confederation Cup