Spain vs Tahiti June 20, 2013

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Expect Spain to change their entire team or close to it against Tahiti on Thursday afternoon. While the Tahitians put up a decent showing for most of their 6-1 defeat to Nigeria, there's obviously a bit of a different between Nigeria and Spain, as good as the Super Eagles are. A team of Segunda players would be favored over Tahiti, so Spain's senior B team should fare just fine.

Tahiti gets its big moment

Tahiti doesn't have a professional league and their captain lives in his mother's basement. Good luck trying to find a more unlikely qualifier for a major international tournament.

If you're expecting a record win for Spain ... well, don't expect them to be that mean. La Roja's biggest ever win is a 13-0 thumping of Bulgaria in a friendly back in 1933. Between Spain's fetish for passing in circles for minutes on end and Tahiti's reasonably competent showing against Nigeria, double-digit goals don't seem terribly likely.

Also, they have a guy who's better than Lionel Messi.

Match date/time: Thursday, 3 p.m. ET

We all know who is going to win today's game between Spain and Tahiti. But the odds for Tahiti are the longest I have ever seen for a match and may not come around for years.

Make no mistake, there will be no Tahiti treat today or on any other day in this tournament. However, you need to see the incredibly wild offerings for today's game. The spectrum is so wide, you may never see them at a major international tournament for years.

Every bookmaker understands how lopsided this game will be, and as a result they have dropped their total amount of bet options considerably. For example, there are only 17 betting offerings for this game, whereas the Nigeria-Uruguay tilt three hours later offers 192.

The real entertainment here is seeing that Spain is paying out 1.01 to win the match. That's right. For every $10 you wager on Spain, you will net a grand total of ten cents. Of course, if you are wagering on this game you will have no legitimate options but to look at either following: handicap, correct score, or amount of goals that specific players will score.

William Hill expects the final score to be 7-0, and that is paying out 6.00 right now. But with Nigeria beating the islanders 6-1 on opening day, I fully expect the much more talented and skilled Spaniards to hit the double digit mark. If they don't, it is only because they will give mercy and take the foot off the pedal. It is hard to say how many will be scored, but as a measuring stick the 10-0 is at 9.00.

The match handicaps alone start at the -6 mark and it's at 1.33, something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. The Spain -8 is at 2.10 while the -9 is at 3.00. Worth a ten dollar bet just for the entertainment value alone.

Just to score in the game Tahiti are paying 5.00. To take a point, Tahiti is listed at an unbelievable 17.00. For the win you ask? Try the astronimical 51.00!

The first line to hit over evens (2.00) in the over total goals section is the over 9.5.

Who will score for Spain? Likely a lot of players. But for the first time ever, the entire Spanish starting 11 are all paying under 1.50 to score anytime during the match. David Villa, Fernando Torres, and Roberto Soldado are all being issued at 3.00 to score a hat-trick.

Although the odds are absolutely unheard of, try out a total goals or handicap pick to at least make it worth watching.

Venue: Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Italia-Giappone 19-06-2013

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L'Italia gioca col Giappone la seconda partita del girone dopo la vittoria per 2-1 con il Messico grazie ai gol di Pirlo e Balotelli. Gli azzurri affrontano i nipponici per la terza volta nella storia. La prima nel 1936 terminò con una vittoria per 8-0 e l'ultima con un pareggio per 1-1, in un'amichevole del 2001. Il Giappone si è recentemente qualificato ai Mondiali del prossimo anno ed è guidato da Alberto Zaccheroni. La prima partita gli occhi a mandorla guidati dal tecnico di Cesenatico, l'hanno persa 3-0 contro il Brasile. Lo spirito di rivalsa quindi sarà forte con l'Italia. "Abbiamo analizzato pregi e difetti dei nostri avversari - ha spiegato Zaccheroni - il problema è che questa Italia di difetti ne ha pochi. Cercheremo di togliere gli spazi e chiudere le linee di passaggio, l'importante sarà dimostrare di avere personalità".

Italia (4-3-2-1): Buffon; Maggio, Barzagli, Chiellini, De Sciglio; Montolivo, De Rossi, Pirlo; Aquilani, Giaccherini; Balotelli. Allenatore: Cesare Prandelli.

Giappone (4-2-3-1): Kawashima; Uchida, Yoshida, Konno, Nagatomo; Hasebe, Endo; Okazaki, Honda, Kagawa; Maeda. Allenatore: Alberto Zaccheroni.

Il Giappone è allenato dal 2010 dall’italiano Alberto Zaccheroni, ed è stata la prima nazionale a qualificarsi ai mondiali del 2014, grazie a un pareggio contro l’Australia di pochi giorni fa. Negli scorsi tre anni in Giappone, Zaccheroni ha confermato di essere un grande allenatore (in Italia ha allenato Milan, Juventus, Inter, Lazio e Udinese, e prima del 2010 non aveva mai allenato all’estero) e ha provato ad abituare la squadra al calcio internazionale con una serie di amichevoli di alto livello.

Nel 2011 il Giappone ha vinto la Coppa d’Asia in Qatar, vittoria con cui ha ottenuto l’accesso alla Confederations. Attualmente la nazionale giapponese è al 32esimo posto nel ranking FIFA (la classifica delle nazionali di calcio), subito sotto la Nigeria (l’Italia è all’ottavo).

La squadra ha alcuni giocatori di esperienza europea, come il centrocampista del Manchester United Shinji Kagawa, il centrocampista Keisuke Honda e l’esterno dell’Inter Yuto Nagotomo. Un fatto curioso, come ricordavamo nella guida al torneo, è che in Brasile c’è la comunità giapponese all’estero più numerosa del mondo, circa 1,5 milioni di persone, e quindi la nazionale avrà probabilmente un certo sostegno di tifo.

Viceversa, anche i brasiliani sono la comunità straniera più numerosa del Giappone, un paese estremamente chiuso all’emigrazione, con circa 320 mila persone.

Del Giappone attenzione a Kagawa del Manchester United, Honda del Cska Mosca e l'interista Nagatomo. In generale è la velocità l'arma principale dei giapponesi. Prandelli ha già deciso invece di far rifiatare Abate e Marchisio, schierando al loro posto Maggio e Aquilani. Per il resto è la stessa formazione scesa in campo col Messico. L'Italia se dovesse vincere sarebbe qualificata automaticamente alle semifinali della Confederations (leggi il programma) e potrebbe giocarsi l'ultima sfida con il Brasile con un altro spirito. La partita si disputerà nel clima umido di Recife, in uno stadio da 44mila posti nuovo di zecca. La sfida sarà

Brazil 2-0 Mexico June 19, 2013

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90+ JO Brazil 2-0 Mexico June 19, 2013 Final
Mexico has raised their game against a top opponent again but, just like in their game against Italy,it has yet to result in them taking a lead. Mexico has kept Brazil at bay for the most part and even looked lively in attack during the first half, but one moment of brilliance from Neymar has the hosts up 1-0 at halftime of this Confederations Cup tilt.

El Tri started very slow, dropping deep and giving Brazil plenty of space in midfield. That backfired, however, and led to numerous early chances for Brazil. Their goal came in the 23rd minute on a great strike from Brazil's biggest star. Dani Alves set up the goal with a dangerous cross into the box that 'Maza' Francisco Rodriguez got a touch to, but couldn't clear completely away from danger. That set up Neymar stepping up and drilling a volley past Jose Corona from the edge of the box to give his team the lead.

Mexico was much better after the goal and perhaps even the better side in the last 20 minutes of the first half. They let Hulk and Neymar break away from them on a couple of dangerous-looking counters, but always recovered well and didn't allow Brazil to do much in the way of building sustained attacks at the end of the half.


Brazil could qualify for the destructive leg with a victory. They have collected 3 points, therefore another 3 would guarantee Brazil is going to complete leastways 2nd in Group A. Selecao looked excellent to Japan, and Luiz Felipe Scolari is going to want to maintain this drive to Mexico.

That is the best Brazil have just seen under Scolari, and that tourney can go a long way to get the team prepare for the World Cup.

Mexico just requires to win, leg. They have won only one time in 6 World Cup qualifying games. El Tri looked very monotonous in their 2-1 loss againist Italy in their 1st game of the tourney.

A loss would not accuse Mexico to sifting. However they would require many things to go right to make it to the destructive leg.

Mexico have sufficient capability to have achieve at the World Cup. Currently, Mexico players look non-sure of themselves and irregular on the field.

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Despite their valiant effort, Mexico kicked off their Confederations Cup campaign with a loss against Italy on Sunday. While a repeat performance would be mildly encouraging, it could also mean their exit from Confederations Cup. Brazil, who comfortably defeated Japan 3-0 in their opener, will like their chances to sink El Tri and potentially dump them out of the tournament, pending the result of Italy-Japan.

Brazil played with Neymar underneath Fred in their first match and the results were encouraging, with Fred setting up Brazil's biggest star for a fantastic 20-yard opening goal. The hosts never looked back after that and never looked to be under too much of a threat from Japan. Mexico entertained in their 2-1 loss to Italy, but were ultimately outclassed.

El Tri tend to bring their best against the world's top sides, but it's tough to see them having much of an answer for Brazil. There simply isn't a single aspect of the game in which they match up well, and it will probably take numerous bad mistakes from the home side for Mexico to avoid defeat.

Match date/time: Wednesday, 3 p.m. ET

Venue: Casteao, Fortaleza, Brazil

Spurs vs Heat Final 2013 June 18, 2013

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The Miami Heat need a win in Game 6 to keep their hopes of a repeat NBA championship alive. But if Danny Green keeps playing out of his mind, and Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili repeat their Game 5 performances, the title could be decided Tuesday.

The back-and-forth, win-one, lose-one nature of the NBA Finals thus far would seem to indicate the Miami Heat pull off a Game 6 win.

Miami won eight of its first nine playoff games after closing the season with wins in 37 of 39 games. Since then, it has traded wins and losses, besting the Indiana Pacers in seven games and falling behind quickly, then rebounding, then falling behind quickly, then rebounding against the San Antonio Spurs. Now, for the second time this year, it sets out to play a game that could end its season, as the Spurs look to close out the NBA Finals and win their fifth championship in Tim Duncan's tenure with the franchise.

The Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in last season's NBA Finals 4 games to 1. As they return home to the friendly confines of American Airlines Arena in South Beach after dropping 2 of 3 games in San Antonio, the defending champs have their backs against the wall. Trailing 3-2 in the championship series against a Spurs team looking to win a fifth title in 15 seasons, Miami needs to get back to the dominant play that helped them win 66 regular-season games this year.


LeBron James and Dwyane Wade did all they could to send the Heat home with the ever-important 3-2 advantage but with the continued hot shooting of the Spurs - who had all 5 starters finish in double figures in the 114-104 Game 6 win - Miami is now faced with the challenge of winning two-straight to claim back-to-back titles for the first time in franchise history. The good news for the Heat is that the final 2 title matches will be on their home floor.


The Heat's bounce-back nature foretells a Miami win, but this series has also shown that things that are foretold generally don't pan out. Dwyane Wade and Manu Ginobili have each been written off as passe, no longer the brilliant wing scorers they once were. And they've each responded with unreal showings, guiding their squads to wins. LeBron James, the world's best player, has alternated between his usual self and tepidness. Enormous runs have come from nowhere and although the series record has stayed relatively even, four of five games thus far have ended as blowouts. Even Tim Duncan hasn't been his usual, ho-hum perfectionist self. And the only constant has been Danny Green. Danny Green!

USA vs Honduras June 17, 2013

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On the surface, it seems that Honduras is more than just depleted for its game against the USA Tuesday, it's decimated.

It isn't just the number of players missing, it's the quality. Vital performers Boniek Garcia and Maynor Figueroa are injured, while hulking defender Victor Bernardez and defensive midfielder Luis Garrido are suspended.

If the forced absences weren't enough, forward Jerry Bengtson has left the team after a spat with manager Luis Fernando Suárez, following the coach's decision to bench the New England Revolution forward in the team's last qualifier against Jamaica.

While the U.S. may be quietly doing fist pumps and celebrating its good fortune, the team is understandably taking a more muted approach in public.

"It won't impact how we approach it at all," U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley told reporters before training Monday. "It's still Honduras and it's still 90 minutes to go out and try to win the game. As far as who plays for them, who doesn't, who's injured, who ends up being able to play, it doesn't change anything for us."

With the key absences, the Catrachos will be heavily reliant on some familiar faces to many U.S. national team members. Defender Matt Besler was a teammate of Roger Espinoza at Sporting Kansas City for four seasons before Espinoza was sold to Wigan.

"I have great things to say about Roger, I think he's a really good player," Besler said. "I think he's got a terrific engine and he's a valuable member of that team. He's a guy we're going to have to keep an eye on and make sure that we match his intensity."

Another vital player for Honduras on Tuesday will be winger Mario Martinez, who could be directly matched up against his club teammate in Seattle, Brad Evans, who has started the USA's last three games at right back.

"I've seen the things that he can do day in and day out in Seattle and there are some things that are just world class," Evans told a media roundtable Sunday. "He's a very, very good player with his left foot, he's extremely tricky, and you never know if he's going to cut it back.

"He's one of those guys that doesn't really have a right foot but when he does cut it back, he's skilled enough to hit it with the outside of his left boot."

In addition to Espinoza and Martinez, San Jose Earthquakes winger Marvin Chavez could be in line for a start on Tuesday, adding another well-known opponent for many of the U.S. players.

Coming off a 2-1 loss in Honduras in February, U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann is aware of the challenge the Central Americans will pose, regardless of the 11 players on the field.

"We have a lot of respect for Honduras because that's just the way it has to be. We had that experience in February and we expect them to be very physical," Klinsmann said.

"There will be a lot of battles on the field all over the place but we want to play our game, we want to be dominant hopefully on the field and take care of things the sooner the better. But we know it's going to be a hell of a lot of work."