Confederations Cup 2013 Schedule: When and Where to Catch Wednesday's Action
The 2013 Confederations Cup kicks into high gear as teams prepare for their second matches in the group stage.
International tournaments are often knocked for failing to live up to the hype. With this year's Confederations Cup, that hasn't been the case.
Since only eight teams are involved, there aren't a ton of early matches where it's one very good team against one average team. Although Tahiti are an obvious exception, there are a bunch of respectable countries with talented national teams.
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Here's a quick preview of the action in Group A, with a few of the burning storylines going into the matches.
Match Schedule
Top Storylines to Watch
Will the Hosts Look Dominant Again?
One of the surprises in the first round of play was just how good Brazil looked against Japan. The Selecao have been struggling recently and entered the Confederations Cup on a rather poor run of form. The arrival of Luiz Felipe Scolari had so far failed to inject any major changes from the tenure of Mano Menezes.
If Brazil continue to look as good as they did on Sunday, supporters will have nothing to worry about.
This tournament is a great test for Brazil, as they don't have any World Cup qualifying with which they can test themselves. The Confederations Cup is a much better indicator than a friendly when it comes time for Scolari to select his starting 11.
Will Mexico Break Out of Their Funk?
Unlike Brazil, Mexico weren't able to improve upon their poor form in their first match. El Tri have yet to lose a match; however, they've also only won one match and scored three goals in six matches.
As a result, Jose Manuel de la Torre is a manager under fire. There's a very good chance that he'll be out of a job if Mexico underperform at the Confederations Cup.
It would be hard to blame the Mexican Federation if it chose to do so.
Mexico have the talent to make a deep run at the World Cup. It's a matter of the manager putting that talent together and setting it up to win. That's not happening at the moment.
Against Italy, El Tri looked completely unsure of themselves. They never looked like they would be able to get three points, and promptly conceded a late goal to lose.
Things don't look much better as they have to play host Brazil in their next match.
The Mario Balotelli Show
Whether good or bad, Mario Balotelli is the kind of player you cannot help but watch.
He's been more of a hindrance than a help with Inter Milan and Manchester City in the past.
When it comes to the Italian national team, though, Balotelli has managed to keep his passion relatively restrained. There was the red card he got against the Czech Republic, but on the whole, Cesare Prandelli has been able to rein in the striker.
Balotelli's goal against Mexico was the essence of everything he can become as a player. He was surrounded by three defenders but bulled his way through and poked it in for the goal.
At his best, he is one of the most promising young strikers in the world. At his worst, he's a red card waiting to happen.
Now that the good stuff has happened, is Balotelli due for a meltdown?
