Hasn’t the Confederations Cup been great?

From the rendition of the Brazilian national anthem (easily the greatest performance of a national anthem I’ve ever seen/heard performed) it was clear we were in for a special night and the game succeeded to living up to the build-up with flying colours. Certainly one of the most compelling competition finals of the last 20 years – not bad for a gig which is regularly dubbed as a ‘dress rehearsal’.

Overall, everything that has been on offer on the pitch has been of a high standard and exciting to watch. A further example is the 0-0 clash between Spain and Italy at the semi-final stage – this has to be as good a stalemate as you are ever going to see; it had end to end football, missed chances, great football, an intriguing tactical battle and a nail-biting penalty shootout to finish (also, perhaps 11 of the best penalties you are ever going to see in one shootout).

No England

Wasn’t it nice not to hear about the English squad for a change? Well, I thought it was anyway, but maybe that’s just me being a Welshman coming to the fore there. No England meant no repeated visits to the England camp in the coverage building up to, in the middle of and following any of the live games, an exercise which I find consistently tedious and dull.

Not to drive the ‘anti-England’ knife in further, but over the past two years (probably longer actually) I’ve found watching the England national team play a drab affair and something I feel that certainly wouldn’t have benefitted the 2013 Confederations Cup and maybe even detracted from the excellent spectacles that were played out on the field. I could get used to this ‘England-Free Zone’, but I have to admit that there would be something missing from next year’s World Cup if England were to fail to qualify.

The new ‘fun’ Italy

My favourite national team to watch over the past 12-18 months? Spain? Brazil? Uruguay? Argentina? Germany? None of the aforementioned. That accolade has to go to a team who have for almost the entirety of their existence being associated with defensive football, yet now look to be transforming into one of the most exciting national teams around. For me at the moment it is all about Forza Azzuri!

Prandelli has worked wonders to subvert the old catenaccio-loving Italian stereotype that has dominated world football perceptions. They may not play the same patient tiki-taka of their Spanish counterparts, but their passing game is still a very impressive, fast-paced and attractive brand of football. It must be remembered, that this Italian team went toe-to-toe with the world dominating Spain team in the semi-final and probably would have won if it wasn’t for some sloppy finishing.

More excitingly, the new look Italy is still a young, developing team, after Prandelli scrapped a lot of the deadwood that remained in the national team following their disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign under Marcelo Lippi. The Italians now have exciting talent such as Stephan El Shaarawy, Mattia De Sciglio and the ever maturing Mario Balotelli, a player who has looked at the height of his powers during the 2013 Confederations until he was sadly ruled out of the semi-final through injury. Throw in exciting talent pool that exists at U21 level, players such as Lorenzo Insigne, Giulio Donati and the apparent heir to Pirlo’s throne Marco Verrati, and you have one hell of an exciting Italy team lined up for the 2014 World Cup.

On the notion of looking at the future, it is perhaps relevant to look at the current and celebrate one factor of the Italian squad: Pirlo. Once again, the sage-like midfielder has been a joy to behold. His freekick against Japan plus his ridiculously cool-headed penalty against Spain have been two of my favourite Pirlo moments.