Confederations Cup Round 3: The Statistics Review

If we thought Round 1 and 2 were great then Round 3 sure threw up a whole lot of surprises and amazing results!

Honestly, if the Confederations Cup were a preview of the World Cup, I can honestly say that I will start counting down the months, days, hours, minutes and seconds to the World Cup 2010! Coupled with the vuvuzela, the atmosphere and fan have been top-class.

In Round 3, a total of eight goals have been scored. To date, 31 goals have been scored, Spain have yet to concede, Brazil players have had 60 shots of which 26 are on target, Tim Howard has made 17 saves and Mohamed Kassid is on course to winning the tournament's Golden Glove award.

It was the first time in 52 years that Italy had conceded three goals in a half and also the second time that a World Cup champion have been dumped out of the Confederations Cup in the group stage.

Spain's triumph over South Africa took them to their 15th consecutive win, breaking the previous world record of 14 set by Brazil, France and Australia. This Spanish team sure is something special. Perhaps as special as Barcelona...

Xavi underlines his credentials as the best midfielder in the world by putting on a masterclass display against South Africa. His 107 passes and 11.3km of tireless running kept Spain ticking over all through that match. However, Michael Bradley continued to lead the workhorse category (12.1km per game). He was in inspirational form for USA, scoring a vital goal and covering a phenomenal 12.7 km in the 3-0 win over Egypt.

After out-passing both Brazil and Italy with success rates of 88% and 82.7% respectively, the accuracy of Egypt's distribution dropped dramatically to 73% as they crashed out unbelievably to the USA. Spain's passing is still awesome, 82.6% - miles better than any other team.

Three players are now tied for the tournament's Golden Shoe award - Torres, Villa and Fabiano. My bet is on the pocket poacher, David Villa. He looks super sharp in this tournament. It's as though he believes that this is THE shopping window for him to secure a move away from financially troubled Valencia.

The competition heats up for the title of Confederations Cup Most Valuable Player. Three players have built up a clear lead over the rest of the pack. David Villa is currently in the lead, followed by Nando Torres, Kaka, Mohammad Kassid and Siboniso Gaxa. However the most outstanding performer of Round 3 has to be the much-maligned Clint Dempsey by virtue of scoring the all-important goal no. 3 to push USA into the semifinals. Surely an interesting matchup between Spain and the hardworking USA.

Lastly, the green shirt sported by Julio Cesar against Italy is the third different-coloured kit he has worn in as many matches at the Confederations Cup 2009. The Brazil goalkeeper turned out in all grey against Egypt and switched to all black for the 3-0 win over USA.

Bring on the vuvuzela!


This review is done based on FIFA.com.

Confederations Cup Round 2: The Statistics Review

Round 2 matches have brought just as much excitement as Round 1 had. Though the focus after Round 1 had been on the use of Vuvuzela horn at the stadiums, the Round 2 matches were no less exhilirating. So, let's look at the numbers after Round 2.

We saw the Italians upset by some excellent Egyptian defence and goalkeeping. Similarly, Iraq was unlucky to lose to Spain. South Africa brought this tournament to its feet with a Vuvuzela-influenced win over the Kiwis. The Americans again finished a game with 10 men against a nonchalant Brazil.

With the win over USA, Brazil has now won seven out of their 15 Confederations Cup matches with a three goal margin or more.

Brazil also has overtaken Spain in the goals scored leaderboard, after bagging a round-high of three against the helpless Americans. This puts the Selecao first with 7 goals ahead of Spain who has scored a team total of six. Iraq lies last in this category and will really need to improve as an attacking force against New Zealand to stand any chance of progressing to the latter stages of this tournament.

The US most consistent player so far, Tim Howard has made more saves after Round 2 than any other goalkeeper in the tournament. His 17 saves ranks him at no. 1 - six ahead of his nearest rival, Glen Moss. Unfortunately both USA and New Zealand are the two teams to have conceded the most goals - so Howard and Moss are crucial

Italy continue to stay top as the hardest working team (219.3km) in the competition, mainly due to the fact that they had to chase the game in both rounds. More interestingly, is that Spain and Italy cover more ground than any other team when in possession. This shows the superior fitness levels compared to the other teams - a factor which could determine the semifinal and even the final result. Also noteworthy is that Spain due to their superior pass completion rate, need not work as hard to win back possession - as the old saying goes, "if the opposition does not have the ball, they can't score goals".

Spain has attempted 42 shots, the most by any team in this tournament. In both matches, Spain has completely dominated their opponents. Brazil and Italy, however have the most highest shots on target (19) showing a much better accuracy percentage than Spain. Would this stat be the downfall of the La Roja? We shall see...

The most impressive team in the second round of group matches is obviously Egypt. The African Nations champions and South Africa are proudly flying the African flag in this tournament.

These statistics were compiled from FIFA.com.

Round 3 should prove a cracker as well since 1st and 2nd position in the group table have yet to be decided. At least we know that Spain and Brazil are semifinalist certainties. Egypt, South Africa, Italy and Iraq all have opportunities still to make it past the group stages.

Italy and Brazil will do battle in a match that Italy must win to quality for the semifinals. Egypt will also need to win their final match against the Americans to go through. South Africa need at least a draw against an in-form Spain while Iraq will look for goals (and a lot of it) to progress to the semifinal stage at the expense of a sorely out-of-depth New Zealand side.

And so everything is still at stake here - more drama awaits in Round 3 of the Group stages.

Confederations Cup Round 1: The Statistics Review

The Confederations Cup 2009 got underway this week and what a week it has been! Round 1 has concluded with all teams having played their first matches.

In total, 16 goals have been scored in the opening round, an average of four per game, have ensured a spectacular start to the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009. This free-scoring opening to the tournament mirrors exactly the start to the 2005 edition, which bodes well given that Germany witnessed the highest-scoring 'Festival of Champions' in history, with an overall average of 3.5 goals per game.

Fortunately, the quality has more than matched the quantity, with the likes of Fernando Torres, Mohamed Shawky and Giuseppe Rossi providing early contenders for goal of the tournament.

Spain's super striker, Fernando Torres created tournament history by scoring the quickest hattrick against New Zealand. It took Torres 11 minutes to complete his hattrick owing to world-class finishing and excellent work from arguably the best Spanish team in history.

American players are known for their athleticism and fitness. So it is no surprise that US defensive midfielder, Michael Bradley has worked the hardest for his team. Bradley covered the most ground (12.1km) out of all players. In fact, three US players, Bradley, Donovan and Dempsey are in the top four of the "Distance Covered" category. In the opening round, Italy was the hardest working team, covering 109.21 km which helped them overturn a one goal deficit and outrun a very determined American team.

Brazil's Dani Alves made it to the top of the pass masters chart, with 90% pass completion rate and 71 attempted passes. Spaniard Cesc Fabregas carried over his late season EPL form into this tournament. He attempted 79 passes, finding a team mate a staggering 89.9% of the time. As if to emphasize just what super ball players they are, Spain has three players, Fabregas, Alonso and Capdevila in the top four of the "Passes" category. As a team, Spain topped this category with 522 passes completed and 83.4% completion rate further giving proof that they are the best passing team in the planet. Egypt came second in this category (79.8%) underlining what a superb team effort it was against Brazil.

Italy were expected to take advantage of their set piece prowess at this tournament. After all, they won the World Cup scoring 58% of their goals from set pieces. Instead against the Americans, they scored two long distance goals and have attempted seven shots on goal from outside the penalty area.

Tim Howard leads the saves category with nine saves, followed by Spain's Casillas and Iraq's Kassid. The most tackles (5) made in the opening round belonged to Bafana Bafana's Siboniso Gaxa, gaining possession in three of these tackles. Gaxa also recovered the ball four times and made four clearances, making him the top defender of the opening round so far.

Finally, with his goal against the Kiwis, David Villa has moved level with Fernando Hierro as Spain's joint-second highest all time scorer. Goalscorer supreme, Raul Gonzalez tops that list with 44 goals.

These statistics are compiled from FIFA.com. Get Ready for Round 2!!