The 2009 Confederations Cup kicked off yesterday in South Africa.
We've seen four games. What have we learned so far?
1 - Spain is very, very good.
As in, VERY good. I may be a bit biased here, as I absolutely adore this team. But how can anyone argue with players like Xavi, David Villa, Fernando Torres and Iker Casillas?
They're balanced. They defend well. They score. They have a tight midfield. And they're playing this good without the services of Andres Iniesta.
True, they played a weak New Zealand squad. Still, the world's #1 ranked team looks like a winner, in every facet of the game.
2 - South Africa is not very good.
Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana said he wanted to be judged on what the team did in competitive matches, not on the results of friendlies.
Yesterday's drab 0-0 encounter with Iraq was a poor showing in many ways. Not only was it a bad game to watch, it also exposed South Africa as a team devoid of width and pace.
Counter that with a choppy playing surface and one can see why they struggled yesterday.
They'll have to play all guns blazing to run at a New Zealand team looking for redemption after their 5-0 rout at the hands of Spain. Let's hope Bafana Bafana does better this time around.
3 - The vuvuzelas are driving me crazy!
The vuvuzela, an air horn, approximately one meter in length, commonly blown by fans at soccer matches in South Africa, makes an interesting sound.
30,000 of them blowing in unison at a football match and it sounds like a bee swarm about to devour you!
Annoying is a word I'd like to use. Maddening is probably closer to what I'm feeling.
Wow, what a sound! And it never ends ... just keeps going and going and going ...
Someone make it stop!
So ... what do you think?
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