Confederations Cup 2013: Most Glaring Weakness For Every Remaining Team

With group action concluded on Sunday and the duo of semifinals games getting underway Wednesday, the 2013 Confederations Cup is finally taking on the shape of an elite worldwide event. 

The beginning of "sudden death" time in soccer tournaments always ratchets up the intrigue. There are great matches during group stages. But at the end of the day, much of the action in Brazil seemed like a harbinger of a preordained outcome. Spain, Brazil, Italy and Uruguay were considered by most the four best teams spread out across the two groups.

With little in the way of upsets, it became quite clear by Sunday that this would play out exactly as planned. Spain and Brazil would win their groups, taking on Italy and Uruguay, respectively, in their semifinal clashes. And while that might have sucked a little fun out of the weekend proceedings, it's probably for the best that things played out as expected. 

As we saw in this year's NBA Finals, things tend to be better when the teams that are, you know, good and stuff, advance. That way, the contests tend to be better and we remember the event far more fondly. 

That being said, none of these squads are perfect. Each has a weakness or two—no matter how big or small—that could crop up in these semifinals matches. 

With that in mind, here is a quick look at each team's weaknesses heading into elimination play. 

Brazil: Lack of True Wing Players

Some would use this space to grind their teeth about the semi-declining Julio Cesar. At 33 years old, Cesar is not the man he used to be in net, and that's been readily apparent in some caps. But it hasn't been in the Confederations Cup. Cesar blanked his opponents for the first five halves in his home country, only finally yielding two second-half scores to Italy on Saturday.

Brazil's more intriguing problem—at least in a tournament where they desperately want to appease the home crowd—looks on paper like a strength. Almost any other country in this field would give up their first-born child to have a starting 11 that includes Neymar, Hulk, Fred and Oscar. That's some of the most prodigious talent in the world, all in one attacking line.

The problem with this—a great one to have, granted—is that none of these players are "wingers" in a traditional sense. They are more naturally inclined to take an attacking midfield stance, creating for themselves and others than staying on the edges. The team's central players and attacking talent are among the best in the world, but their lack of wings make for an interesting dichotomy. 

In most instances, Brazil do just fine without the traditional wing spots. They've been excellent in the Confederations Cup, with a 9-2 goal differential that is only bested by Spain—a side that got to kick some record-setting dirt on Tahiti. 

Again, we're not talking about a crippling thing here. Luiz Felipe Scolari will take the lack of traditional winger any day and six times on Sunday, should it mean he gets to keep the current players on his roster. But the composition of said roster always puts Scolari in an interesting position tactically. His team is always teetering the line on good aggression and bad aggression, a line that only shows up when you're watching a team in action; it's impossible to quantify. 

Uruguay: Midfield Struggles

Pointing out the biggest strength for Uruguay is quite easy. The combination of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani make for a thrilling pair of forwards, guys who help make the Uruguayans one of the more underrated countries in the world. 

Finding weaknesses—ones that are jarring at least—is a little harder. Uruguay's weaknesses tend to be glaring mediocrities, not gaping sieves that cause the team to hemorrhage goals. They played Spain the closest thus far of any Confederations Cup opponent, though the Suarez goal late in that match was in the soccer equivalent to garbage time. 

But one has to wonder whether Uruguay could have put a greater scare on Spain if they were able to handle the ball at the midfield. The Spaniards, long known for their excellence controlling the pace, absolutely eviscerated Uruguay in that opening match.

They held for 75 percent of the contest, rendering the excellent Suarez-Cavani duo ineffective. Forwards can't put the ball in the net if they don't have the ball and such. Kinda hard that way.

And that ineffective play at the midfield continued in a win against Nigeria. Uruguay held possession for only 43 percent of the match, affording the Nigerians 15 scoring opportunities. Luckily, Nigeria were unable to capitalize and only put four of those attempts on net. 

Business picked up a bit for Uruguay against Tahiti, which can be said by every Group B team. Takeaways from that contest are nil. With Brazil's attackers being among the best in the world, Uruguay would be in massive trouble if they hit the repeat button on their first two matches. Brazil will not miss the opportunities Nigeria did, nor will they pump the brakes with a comfortable lead like Spain. 

Spain: Back-Line Defense

When it comes to talking "weaknesses" for Spain, you're talking about picking the thinnest of nits. This has been the best team in the world for the better part of a half decade now, with their Confederations Cup run thus far doing nothing to change that stance.

At their best, these Spaniards play about as near-perfect soccer as you can play. They pass the ball like the Harlem Globetrotters, they find advantageous striking opportunities like they're run by a nuclear missile program and play with the intelligence of Rhodes Scholars at times. There aren't many weaknesses to be had here.

If you're looking for one, though, it usually crops up when Spain are unable to keep possession for a great deal of the match—take their win over Nigeria for instance. While the Spaniards played mostly with their secondary lineup, Nigeria were able to keep up until late in the match by keeping possession.

They ultimately held the ball for 42 percent of the match, which seems like a loss until realizing that Spain's conservatism and excellent midfield inherently lends itself to a possession rate above 60 percent.

With possession, the Nigerians did what teams tend to do against Spain—find a way through their intermittently effective back line. They took eight shots on goal, some of which were quite good chances, which was four times the amount of legitimate attempts taken by Uruguay and Tahiti—the former having some of the best strikers in the world.

Vulnerability creeps in for Spain when they don't dominate possession. It's the most relative vulnerability in the world, of course. Spain still beat Nigeria 3-0. But the form of their back defenders is always at least enough of a wild card to make fans sweat a little bit, and the depth behind the starters is also a question mark. 

We're talking about a team that hasn't lost in nearly 30 matches, though. Don't go getting out your pitchforks and camping outside their houses or anything. 

Italy: The Loss of Mario Balotelli

For a country that made the semifinals of one of the world's most prestigious tournaments, Italy have quite the set of problems. Their back-line defense make Spain's "problems" look nonexistent in comparison, and the legendary Gianluigi Buffon might need to be taken out to pasture. Italy are the only semifinalists to have not scored more goals than they've allowed; they're exactly even at 8-8 thus far. 

All of this stuff needs fixed before their match against Spain. But none of it may even matter with the loss of Mario Balotelli to injury. FIFA.com's Twitter feed noted that the Italian striker will be out for the remainder of the Confederations Cup with a thigh injury: 

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated confirmed the injury, calling it a quad tear—not good:

While it's unclear just how long-term the injury is—with quads, the risk of getting re-injured is always hanging in the balance—the effect on Italy's Confederations Cup hopes is quite clear. Barring something verging on a miracle, it's hard to see a scenario in which Italy outlast Spain.

The 22-year-old Balotelli is widely regarded as one of the best young strikers in the world. A mix of eclectic flamboyance and creative celebrations, Balotelli is also one of the game's most popular players among young fans.

But that matters not for Italy. What matters is that Balotelli was the type of player that was so good and so well-respected that his sheer presence commanded respect from opposing defenses.

Balotelli also helped mask the deficiencies on Italy's roster. They moved to a one-striker system with Balotelli in the lineup, with the young star's individual abilities helping the staff feel comfortable moving to a 4-2-3-1 from a 4-3-1-2. 

Alberto Gilardino will probably take that role now, but is he capable doing everything Balotelli did? Of course not. All it takes is one injury to expose other cracks, and Balotelli's will likely be the one that makes things come crashing inward.

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