Spain Eliminated From World Cup, Lose to Chile

 0-2 

Coming off a harsh loss to the Netherlands, Spain looked to rebound in their second match in group play against Chile.  Chile beat Australia in their first match and earlier in the day the Netherlands also beat Australia.  Two losses to Australia means they cannot advance to the knock-out stage and the two wins for the Dutch guarantees they will make it out of Group B.  Today Spain hoped they would not end up in the same boat as Australia, needing at least a draw to stay in contention.

Xabi Alonso had the best chance for Spain early in the match, but a big stop by keeper Claudio Bravo from point-blank denied the goal scoring opportunity.  Moments later Chile managed to break through the Spanish defense and the defending champions again found themselves in the hole.

Alexis Sánchez helped create the goal when he played a through-ball to Charles Aránguiz behind the Spanish back line.  Aránguiz then squared the ball across the face of goal for Eduardo Vargas.  The Chilean striker made a cutback to avoid keeper Casillas before firing a shot into the back of the net (20').

Chile then doubled the lead when Casillas did a poor job clearing a free-kick.  Alexis Sánchez drilled a free-kick at the goal keeper who got his fists behind the shot.  The ball was not sent out of the box though, and came right to Aránguiz.  With one touch to control and another to shoot, Aranguiz put Chile ahead by two (43').

Nothing seemed to work today for Spain and the second-half did not show improvement.  Koke, Torres, and Santi Cazorla were subbed in over the second-half, but nobody could find a spark and get back into the match.

As it stands The Netherlands and Chile both earned a place in the knock-out round and will play to determine who will win the group.  Spain however will play one final match in Brazil against Australia though the game will have no importance.  All Spain will get out of it is a chance to let some other players get the opportunity to play in a World Cup match.

Brazil Win 2013 Confederations Cup

3-0

Host nation Brazil won the 2013 Confederations Cup by beating Spain 3-0 in the final.  Although Spain is the top ranked team in the world, under the circumstances of tonight's match, they never had a chance.

Just to reach the final Spain had to endure a grueling overtime match against Italy that was eventually decided in a shoot-out.  Brazil had an extra day of rest before the final and of course had the enormous support of the fans as the host nation.

And that support was directly translated onto the field.  Especially in the first-half, all the calls by the referee went in Brazil's favor.  Two yellow cards were issued to Spanish players, Arbeloa and Sergio Ramos, while Brazil got away with a number of fouls that went unbooked.  Later in the second-half Pique was sent off with a straight red card after a foul on Neymar, who was running away from goal.

Brazil were the better team today though, and understandably so with their motivation to win.  The citizens of Brazil have been quite unhappy about the recent build up to next year's World Cup, protesting for the last two weeks.  The players knew that the protests were towards the government, not the teams, and by winning the tournament they would at least give the people something to celebrate.

There is still a lot of work ahead for Brazil, both for the team and the nation as a whole.  Winning today is certainly a step in the right direction and hopefully it will give the people something to believe in.

Spain vs. Brazil in Confederations Cup Final

7-6Pen 

Spain and Italy met today in the second semifinal of the 2013 Confederations Cup.  Spain defeated Italy last summer to clench their second consecutive European title in a 4-0 victory.  Today the score-line was much tighter as neither side managed to score after a full two-hour match.

Over the first ninety minutes Italy were the better team and kept Spain from playing their usual high-possession football.  Italy's Maggio and Giaccherini were making plays all over the field, while Spain's Xavi and Iniesta were unable to string together passes like we are accustomed to seeing.

After regulation the momentum changed, however, as Spain began to put the pressure on Italy and create almost all the scoring chances.  The weather seemed to be the real deciding factor though.  The heat and humidity took its toll on the players from both sides and the quality of play was visibly diminished.

With neither team scoring after the two-hours of play, a penalty shootout would determine the winner.  The first six shooters for both Spain and Italy finished from the spot, and it came down to a miss over the crossbar by Bonucci that gave Spain the final advantage.  Navas was the last shooter for Spain giving them a final 7-6 score in the shootout.

Spain will face host nation Brazil in the final on Sunday and it will be interesting to see if the number one team in the world will have anything left in the tank for this battle of football titans.

Barcelona Break-Down, Bayern Munich Coast

 7-0 

The all-German Champions League final is now assured as Bayern Munich easily handle Barcelona a second time.  Barcelona striker Messi played and scored over the weekend, but today he was left on the bench for the entire match.  True he was not very effective in the first game against Bayern Munich, but down four goals you expect the best finisher in the world right now to play.

Without Messi on the field, Barcelona were quite dull and rather predictable with their passing.  They also seemed to lack the spark that gives them confidence in these big games against top clubs.  Bayern Munich on the other hand were quite comfortable passing through the midfield and extremely organized in defense.

Barcelona were outplayed in the first-half and after the break Munich's lead further increased.  Robben was played into space wide right with a good pass out of the back by defender Alaba.  Cutting across to his preferred left foot, Robben was able to shake defender Adriano before curling his shot around the keeper and into the net (48').

As if the five goal deficit was not already insurmountable, a Barcelona own-goal completely killed their spirit.  Ribery was attempting to hit forward Mandzukic at the far-post, but defender Pique managed to get in-between the two Munich players.  However, his attempted clearance came off his shin awkwardly and settled in his own net (72').  Shortly after Müller scored a final goal for Bayern when Ribery played a cross to the far-post that he finished with a header (76').

Bayern Munich finished the semifinal round with an aggregate score 7-0 and advances to the Champions League final for the second straight year.  Munich are slight favorites against Borussia Dortmund and the two clubs play each other this weekend in the Bundesliga.  The outcome will have little effect on the league standings, but it should be a good preview of the upcoming final in London.

Bayern Munich Pummels Barcelona

  4-0

Barcelona travelled to Germany for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.  Barcelona's defense has been banged up over the course of the season and with Puyol and Mascherano out, Marc Bartra had to start at centerback.  The inexperience of Bartra was a real weakness as Munich were able to penetrate the visitor's back line often.

Müller and Robben were in top form today with at least one of them getting involved in every Munich goal.  First Robben played a high cross into the box for Dante at the back-post.  Dante won the header and played the ball back across the goal for Müller crashing the opposite post.  Müller finished with a header for the only goal of the first-half (25').

Barcelona, as expected, held the majority of possession, however the team only had one off-target shot during the first-half of the game.  After half-time things only got worse for Barcelona as the German club played with more confidence and scored shortly after the break on a corner-kick.  Robben played another cross to the far-post, this time met by Müller with a header, laying the ball down for Gomez in front of goal (49').  There were some questions about Gomez being offsides, but no call was made on the field and the goal counted.

Robben then scored himself following a counter-attack led by Ribery.  Robben managed to find space to shoot inside the box and curled the ball around the keeper with his preferred left foot (73').  Again Barcelona protested the goal, this time for a basketball style pick set by Müller that helped Robben loose defender Jordi Alba.  Again no call was made and Munich pulled ahead 3-0.

Munich put one more in the Barcelona net as Müller finished his big day with another goal.  Ribery worked the overlap with fullback Alaba who fired a low cross into the box that Müller finished easily for a final score of 4-0 (82').

Barcelona have one foot out the door and need a huge turn-around next week at the Nou Camp.  Munich sit with a comfortable lead and their fans have already started booking their tickets for the final in London.