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What the Confederations Cup Can Teach Us About World Cup 2014
Published: June 4, 2013
What has now become synonymous with being the prelude to the World Cup, competed by eight teams in the country that will host the following year's main event, has had a confusing upbringing.
Originally known as the King Fahd cup, it was always played in Saudi Arabia, and involved the Saudi national team and several of the continental champions. It only stayed under this guise for two tournaments though ('92 and '95), before FIFA took it over.
Even under FIFA it wasn't originally the Confederations Cup we know today. It was played every two years, and only in 2001 did they introduce the idea of it being played as a World Cup warm-up—and only since 2005 has it been played every four years, rather than two.
Of the four competitions that have preceded the World Cup since 1997, Brazil have won three. Although, ironically, it is the time they didn't win it—in 2001, when France won it—that they went on to win the World Cup in 2002.
Teams
We should learn the most about the hosts of the tournament. Ten members of their squad are still based in Brazil, yet to flee for Europe, while another 10 still have fewer than 10 caps.
Dani Alves, at 30, is their oldest outfield player and, as they have seen their world ranking dramatically fall, the Confederations Cup, as the host nation especially, represents a massive opportunity for their burgeoning squad to lay some invaluable groundwork ahead of next summer's Grand Slam.
There will be plenty of people gauging what they can learn from A Selecao, and it would be unlike them to disappoint.
Having shocked Germany to reach the European Championships final last summer, Italy will carry an interesting threat and we ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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