Confederations Cup 2013: Bold Predictions For Both Semifinal Matches

The field for the semifinals of the 2013 Confederations Cup has been set: Brazil will battle Uruguay, while Italy will take on Spain.

Headed into the semifinals, the two highest-scoring teams so far have been Spain (15 goals scored) and Uruguay (11), although having overmatched Tahiti in their group helped in that regard. Brazil is third with nine goals.

Spain and Italy rank first and eighth, respectively, in the FIFA world rankings. Uruguay and Brazil rank 19th and 22nd, respectively.

Here's a look at the two semifinal clashes, slated for June 26 and June 27, complete with predictions.

Brazil vs. Uruguay

Uruguay's 8-0 beatdown of Tahiti on Sunday was a reminder that the side can be mighty dangerous.

That being said, Brazil has a much better defense than Tahiti, as evidenced by its 3-0 victory over Japan, 2-0 victory over Mexico and 4-2 victory over dangerous Italy.

Tahiti clearly had no place in the tournament this season, getting outscored by a combined 24-1 in its three matches in the group stage. While Uruguay's win was formidable, it also spoke to the ineptitude of Tahiti on the pitch. Tahiti's defense was frankly awful throughout the tournament, giving plenty of space to its foes to work their magic on the pitch.

Uruguay is coming off a convincing victory, but the 2-1 loss to Spain and narrow win over Nigeria says more to me than the 8-0 blowout of Tahiti.

Uruguay has also shown some fine defense during the tournament, but I think Brazil—complete with Neymar, Fred and Jo—just has too much power overall on the pitch.

Brazil will go on to a narrow victory, 2-1.

Spain vs. Italy

Spain has lived up to its reputation so far, defeating Uruguay, Tahiti and Nigeria in the group stage. Not only has Spain gone on to blowout victories (10-0 over Tahiti), it has also played solid defense throughout the tournament.

As for Italy, the side scored victories over disappointing Mexico and Japan, but wasn't able to step up to the challenge in the 4-2 loss to Brazil.

Fernando Torres has expressed some concern about Italy, per Football-Italia.net:

That being said...

While Italy is a stronger squad than Uruguay, I still believe Spain outclasses Italy as Brazil outclasses Uruguay. Fernando Torres has five goals already, while David Villa has three and Jordi Alba and David Silva have two apiece. Spain leads the tournament with 15 goals scored on a whopping 45 shots on goal (Brazil is second with 27 shots on goal).

Italy has certainly shown it can be a dangerous squad, but I look for Spain to open up a similar edge against the Italians to what the Brazilians did.

Spain wins, 4-2.