FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 Round 1

Believe it or not, but we are already only one year away from another FIFA World Cup. It means that it is time for Confederations Cup. Back in a day this tournament was being played in Saudi Arabia by teams with depleted squads watched by 100 people in turbans in the stands. Nowadays it is grown to be quite a prestigious tournament hosted by next World Cup host serving as a preparation for the host nation and giving us, fans, a taste of what the World Cup will look like. To be honest, after an amazing World Cup in Brazil (which was to be expected as it is a virtual home of football) I don't see how Russia could possibly top that, while the World Cup in 2022 in Qatar looks like a potential disaster...

For those who don't know Confederations Cup is played by 8 teams: 6 continent champions, World Cup champion and the host.

RUSSIA v NEW ZEALAND

I would definitely stay away from this game as a punter. The odds for Russia are very low while this game has the potential to become a very frustrating encounter for the hosts for several reasons.

Russia is the host country, this is an opening game where they are expected to win comfortably, but historically if you take a look at opening games in big tournaments hosts are usually experiencing a slow start because of expectations and pressure.

Russia is actually a pretty average team these days even on the European stage. Stanislav Cherchesov may make them competitive at the World Cup, but right now they are nowhere ready. 

New Zealand is underestimated because they are coming from the Oceania region where their typical game is crushing the likes of Fiji or Solomon Islands, but they actually had friendlies with Mexico, USA and Northern Ireland (all teams regarded higher than Russia) in recent months and they kept those games close.

I expect a scrappy 1-0 win for Russia or even an outright upset here.

PORTUGAL v MEXICO

Looks like bookies have Portugal as one of the two main favorites in this tournament since they are European champions coming to Russia with Ronaldo and Nani. Well, I see it differently. In recent years we can see the trend where top european stars get very tired at the end of the season because of the amount of games they have to play and quite often they under-perform in tourneys like this. How much does Ronaldo have left in his tank? Not to mention that their performance in Euro was pretty average... won the whole thing, but did not show anything special. Overrated team in my opinion.

Mexico on the other hand I really like. Such a skillful team. Dos Santos brothers, Chicharito, Vela, Jimenez, Guardado... I mean the amount of talent here is mind blowing. Mexico is easily a World Cup quarter final material. They are playing quick, attacking football and i expect them to shock tired Portuguese stars and take at least a point from this game.

CAMEROON v CHILE

Cameroon these days is a team without any big time stars. Actually it worked in their favor as they won Africa Cup of Nations this year. I did not really expect that to happen beforehand, but they finally played like a team and it paid off. In the past the Cameroonian squad was more like a bunch of huge ego players fighting each other rather than a real team. Football-wise though Cameroon should be a frustrating opponent for anybody, I don't expect them to score a lot of goals. They should rather play counter attack and hope to sneak out of this group.

Call me crazy, but my bold prediction is Chile to win World Cup 2018. And they can win this year in Russia too. Chile is a mature, experienced team, it is mostly the same players for a few years now. They had a very good previous World Cup, won Copa America in the meantime... most of the players including huge world class stars like Vidal or Sanchez are getting into their prime years (28-32 yrs old). 

I would pick Chile here at odds at least 1.7

AUSTRALIA v GERMANY

I think Australia is a bit worse currently than at World Cup. They have some talent in their squad, but I just don't feel like the necessary experience is there nowadays when it comes to big tournaments like this. Some issues with defensive line too. 

Germany team is number one candidate to win the cup according to bookies which is an absolute joke. Germans are coming without their stars, in experimental squad of younger players, pretty much their B team. Of course football wise the quality is there, but it is insane to expect a bunch of players who rarely play together to go through the whole tournament and win. I would not be surprised if Germany don't make it out of the group and I definitely can't see them in the final. 

With such juicy odds I would take Australia to not lose this one.