In what might be the biggest mismatch in international football for quite some time, Spain will play Tahiti for their second Confederations Cup match, having a chance to give some bench players some minutes without really risking any kind of shocking result happening to them.
What can Tahiti do? Not much. The Pacific islanders were happy just to get on the scoresheet against Nigeria, but that did end in a 6-1 defeat, and except of adding a little faith that they can score again, there’s no really chance of doing anything but slightly making it difficult for Spain.
But even for parking the bus you need certain talent and tactical training, something the sympathetic team of the tournament simply doesn’t have. You can’t expect an amateur side to compete fairly against this kind of competition, especially not against the best side in the world according to the FIFA rankings and recent tournament results.
Spain got over what they felt would be their biggest hurdle, beating Uruguay 2-1 in another commanding performance that involved plenty of possession and hardly giving their opponents a chance to score. It’ll be interesting to see if they’ll ease of the Tahitians once they establish a lead, which is something no one is doubting, or press on to break some records.
Spain’s biggest ever win on the international stage is 13-0, achieved against Bulgaria in a friendly match 80 years ago, and if they do keep pressing like they usually do for an entire match, there’s a good chance the disorganized Tahitian defense won’t be able to deny them from securing a new record.
The interesting aspect for Spain will be some players getting a start – Fernando Torres, David Villa, David Silva, Juan Mata and Santi Cazrola are all looking for some more playing time , and at least two of them are likely to play right off the bat, while other changes across the field, like in goal and the defense, are also going to be noticed.
Prediction – No sense in trying to explain. Spain, by a lot. If this ends in anything less than 5-0 it will probably be a very big surprise, unless Spain decide to put us all to sleep by moving the ball aimlessly in the midfield.