Confederations Cup 2013: Players to watch (Part II)

In the second part of a look at the players to whom the tournament will be an important one, we examine the teams from Group B of the Confederations Cup.

SPAIN

Iker Casillas, Real Madrid (Goalkeeper)

After being hung out to dry by Jose Mourinho for the majority of the season at Real Madrid, Casillas will be hungry to get back between the posts. We should perhaps not fault him for being a little rusty in the initial games from the elongated period of time spent warming the benches. Captaining the national team to yet another success could well prove to be the shot in the arm that provides Casillas a boost to his confidence.

Gerard Pique, Barcelona (Centre-back)

It has been a season of torment for the Barcelona stopper. After reports emerged from Spain that the club had placed Pique under surveillance for his rather ‘generous’ spending ways and his relationship with music star Shakira, his game on the field too has been well short over the last few months. Pique is very good in the air and with the ball at his feet, but he has been exposed time and time again by pacy, athletic forwards. He will need a big tournament in Brazil to restore some of his reputation; if it goes south he could find himself vacating that starting spot to someone else.

Fernando Torres, Chelsea/Roberto Soldado, Valencia/David Villa, Spain (Forwards)

This is the one area, where coach Vicente del Bosque and Spain are yet to arrive at a conclusion. Villa, Spain’s leading goal scorer of all time was the undoubted top dog in the team before his injury happened and the Barcelona striker has not been in the same lethal form since. ‘El Guaje’ has also been surrounded by talk of a move to the Premier League which could materialize now that Barca have also added Neymar to their ranks. The move could be good as it would get him more playing time with the World Cup around the corner.

Torres has had a revival under Rafa Benitez and though not quite striking fear into opponents as he used to, managed to put in a good account of himself with a return of 22 goals for the season, double that of last year. He also had an excellent Euro 2012 chipping in with 3 goals and 1 assist in Spain’s defence of their continental crown.

Soldado meanwhile continues to do what he does best – score goals, lots and lots of goals. He finished with 30 goals from 46 appearances for Valencia, a better return than either of the two above. Just for the record, his last goal scoring record for the last 5 seasons goes like this – 13, 20, 25, 27, 30! How is this guy not starting for ‘La Furia Roja’ you wonder? A technically proficient striker more than capable of the spectacular, this tournament could prove to be Soldado’s big break.

A fully fit Villa still remains Del Bosque’s first choice and at times he has even played a striker-less starting XI preferring to keep Torres and Soldado on the bench. It will be interesting to see how Del Bosque goes about sorting out this position ahead of the World Cup.

URUGUAY

Luis Suarez, Liverpool (Forward)

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Liverpool’s talented striker Luis Suarez on the pitch. All of the blame for that does lie at the Uruguayan’s unsavoury attempt at sinking his teeth into Branislav Ivanovic of Chelsea. Since then, Liverpool have again finished behind Everton and out of European competition, Suarez has made all sorts of noises back home about a move away from Anfield with Real Madrid seemingly on his mind.

But, come Sunday night, all of that will go to the back burner and the only thing that will matter is how he turns up for his national side through the tournament. If he showcases any of the form that kept him atop the goal-scorers’ standings until his ban, we will be in for quite a treat. Suarez already has 8 goals for his country in the 10 qualifiers that he’s played in. Edinson Cavani, in comparison, has played all 12 qualifiers yet scored only 3 times.

Diego Godin, Atletico Madrid (Centre-back)

While Radamel Falcao grabbed all the headlines with his goal scoring exploits, as strikers generally do, Diego Godin was the bedrock of Atletico’s stingy defence that propelled them to a 3^rd place finish in La Liga. Under Diego Simeone, Atletico have added some defensive ruggedness to their team which has been as important to their fortunes as the potency of Falcao up top.

Godin was one of the players of the season for Atleti alongside Falcao and amongst the top defenders in the league. He made 35 appearances (all start) and was the most used player behind keeper Thibaut Courtois. Marshalled by Godin, Atletico had the meanest defence in La Liga conceding just 31 goals, under a goal a game – a fantastic effort. Also, Atletico as a team have been very good at defending set pieces and at aerial duels, which comes as no surprise.

Gaston Ramirez, Southampton (Attacking midfielder)

The Saints dished out £12 million to acquire the services of Ramirez, one of the most promising young talents around. In his first season in England he built up a nice combination with Ricky Lambert and Adam Lallana which saw Southampton play some attractive attacking football.

He is very good with his dribble and likes to play those short passes amongst his teammates to open up space. It is early days yet at the national level for Ramirez, he’s made 7 appearances in the qualifying campaign, but with his talent and ability one reckons he will become a regular feature in the sky blue shirt of Uruguay in the coming years.

NIGERIA

Vincent Enyeama, LOSC Lille (Goalkeeper)

A veteran of the national side, Enyeama has been playing for the Super Eagles since 2002. Inspite of signing for Lille in 2011, he spent last season on loan in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He captained Nigeria to the 2013 African Cup of Nations title. Enyeama is rated amongst the best shot stoppers in football.

Ahmed Musa, CSKA Moscow (Forward)

20-year old Musa currently plays for CSKA in the Russian league. He often plays as a winger or a second striker and is a hot prospect amongst the emerging group of African footballers. He found the net 15 times for his club side last season and has 5 at the international level so far.

Efe Ambrose, Celtic (Centre-back)

We saw a lot of Ambrose in the UEFA Champions League this season as Celtic progressed to the last 16. He had a nightmare game in the 1^st leg at home against Juventus which his side ended up losing 3-0 effectively sealing the tie. However, one has to consider that Ambrose had just got off the flight a mere 24 hours before that game after winning the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria.

In the 2 games against Barcelona in the group stages, he was impressive in the rear guard action that Celtic put up. That performance earned him a place in the UEFA Champions League Team of the Week. He was also named in the African Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament.

TAHITI

In all honesty, I don’t think I can pick the three players to watch out for!

Only 1 of the 23 man squad is not from the Tahitian Division Federale. Tahiti won an international tournament for the first time when they lifted the OFC Nations Cup in 2012, thereby booking their tickets for this year’s Confederations Cup.

They will be led by defender Nicolas Vallar. Keeper Xavier Samin and defenders Teheivarii Ludivion and Vincent Simon are amongst the most experienced members of the travelling group.