Italy’s renowned defensive organisation faces off with newly-discovered draw specialists Mexico in this Confederations Cup Group A opening round tie that is unlikely to set pulses racing given the countries’ recent form and history in the World Cup warm-up tournament.

Italy have sour memories of their only previous Confederations Cup, failing to muster enough points from their group games in 2009 to progress to the knockout rounds. Back then, they lost two of their three matches, a shock loss against Egypt combining with a 3-0 defeat to Brazil to send them home. This time, a longer stay is not only desirable but completely necessary ahead of World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

The more acclimatised the Italian players get to the nation’s searing heat, the more distinct their advantage over all European counterparts besides fellow participants Spain will be come World Cup time. In order to stay the course though, they must improve their form against the better footballing nations. Since their Euro 2012 campaign, Italy have only conquered one side from the top 20 of FIFA’s spurious world rankings and that was Denmark, who are 20th.

Their organised defence, however, ensured more than one goal was conceded in just four of their first 11 games after last summer’s Euros. Nonetheless, a game with 17th-ranked Mexico should still cause them problems. That would be the case if Mexico hadn’t drawn seven in eight (as of June 10); a ludicrously dull run that only saw goals scored in four matches. A positive fan would point to the four straight wins prior to the tear-inducing draw fest and declare good form, but that would be as blatant a masking of a problem as Roy Hodgson claiming that England have a number of world-class performers.

Mexico do boast a striker with a stunning international strike rate that could help them progress further than the group stage should they kick their drawing habit. While Javier Hernandez has to feed off the lesser games for Man United, he still proves himself a lethal finisher and that is no different for his country, where he is the undoubted star with 32 goals in 49 outings. A bet on him to score anytime would be wise but the smarter money should go on Mexico in the draw no bet market at 6/4.

KEY STATS

Mexico have lost just one of their last five meetings with Italy.
One or more teams have failed to score in 10 of Mexico’s last 13 games (as of June 10).
Italy have only scored more than two goals in three of their last 21 matches (as of June 10).
Mario Balotelli failed to score in just four of his 13 AC Milan appearances in 2013.

MISSING OR DOUBTFUL

MEXICO
OUT – NONE
DOUBTFUL – NONE

ITALY
OUT – OSWALDO
DOUBTFUL – NONE

Javier Hernandez has only scored in two of his Mexico appearances in 2013 ( As of June 10 ) but bagged a brace on both occasions.
Stephan el shaarawy hasn’t found the net in 15 games for either club side AC Milan or his country ( as of June 10).

LATEST ODDS

MEXICO WIN 12/5
DRAW – 11/5
ITALY WIN – 23/10

OPTA JOE – 3 – As of june 10, Mario Balotelli has scored three of Italy’s last seven goals, and is top scorer under Cesare Prandelli with eight. Leader.

The weight of sporting expectation rests heavily on the shoulders of Brazil’s most athletic inhabitants as the World Cup and Olympics beckon, a process that starts with this match against Japan. Thankfully, the visitors are unlikely to make it a dispiriting beginning to the party.

As the Confederations Cup takes to Brazil, it officially crowns the country as the centre of the sporting world, with this tournament playing warm-up act for the World Cup and Rio 2016. It means that the young and controversial squad named by Luiz Felipe Scolari, lacking national treasures like Ronaldinho and Kaka and containing just two players with 40 or more caps, will be the first to experience the fierce expectation on their country to win on home soil.

Some of these men – the Neymars, Hulks and Oscars of the squad – have already let down their adoring public once, when they failed to capture the gold medal at the London Olympics last year, and will no doubt be playing with tenser shoulders than normal because of it. They shouldn’t worry though, as they’ve been handed a cushy opener against a Japan side that they thumped 4-0 last October. A win will certainly settle the nerves, and looks likely. Japan may as well have stayed at home and played computer games, such is the who’s who of footballing no marks they’ve been warming up against. The visitors’ 2013 fixture calendar includes games against Latvia, Canada and Jordan – the last of whom even outdid them 2-1 – meaning they go into the tournament with confidence and form fragmented. Brazil, who hunt a third consecutive

Confederations Cup title, are far more formidable on home soil – a point reinforced by the fact that they have not lost a home game since 2002. An 8-0 win over China last September poses a daunting foresight into what may occur, especially as the South Americans have helped themselves to 24 goals to Japan’s four in nine prior meetings. Unsurprisingly, Japan have never beaten their hosts before and have managed just two draws in their history against the yellow-shirted carnival lovers. Therefore, backing a Brazil win to nil at evens is the recommended wager, with Brazil’s winning margin to be three or more a nice buffer at 7/4.

KEY STATS

Both teams have scored in seven of Brazil’s last nine matches.
Brazil have scored exactly four goals in their last two meetings with Japan.
Japan have only managed to keep their sheets clean once in the last six games.
Five of Japan’s last seven games have seen over 2.5 goals scored (as of June 10).

MISSING OR DOUBTFUL

BRAZIL
OUT – DAMIAO
DOUBTFUL – NONE

JAPAN
OUT – NONE
DOUBTFUL – NONE

Of the Brazil Confederations cup squad, only Fred and Neymar have taken their international goal tally into double figures.
Shinji Okazaki’s 32 international strikers represents one more than Fred and Neymar’s combined total.

LATEST ODDS

BRAZIL WIN – 2/7
DRAW 9/2
JAPAN WIN 17/2

OPTA JOE – 5 – Fred had netted in five successive brazil appearances, including two in two against England, before his blank against france. Groove.

If rooting for the underdog is a distinctly British trait, then extreme outsiders Tahiti will transform it into a worldwide phenomenon when they kick off their first ever Confederations Cup campaign against African Cup of Nations winners Nigeria.

The French Polynesian island, ranked 138th in the world, secured their golden ticket to this tournament last June after five straight victories at the OFC Nations Cup, lifting the trophy for the first time in their history to end Australia and New Zealand’s near-four-decade stranglehold on the trophy. Now they must rub shoulders with some of the world’s most famous footballers and will experience playing teams outside of their OFC confederation for the first time ever.

They boast one professional footballer to date, 33-year-old Marama Vahirua, who has spent his career jumping from one French club to another and was recently on loan from Nancy to Panthrakikos in Greece. He will be making his Tahiti debut in Brazil. The rest of the squad, all amateurs, coped just fine without the veteran forward at the OFC Nations Cup, however, winning their group at a canter and scoring 18 goals in three games, conceding five. They weren’t as free-spirited in the knockout rounds, winning the semi-final and final 1-0. Seemingly distracted by an impending date with the world’s best, they later lost their first four games in the final round of World Cup qualifiers to ensure that this trip to visit the church of football will be their first and last for some time. For Nigeria, the African Cup of Nations champions, they are surely destined to battle it out with Uruguay for the second qualifying spot, with Spain also in the group, and will have the leg up thanks to an opening fixture against the tournament’s teachers and postmen.

They bring chest-puffing form through customs, thanks largely to their successful AcoN campaign, and are undefeated in 16 games, of which nine have been victories, and have found the back of the net in nine straight fixtures (all as of June 10). Similar to any international match involving San Marino, the most tempting bet is on a ludicrously high correct score. However, perhaps a wiser punt would be over 4.5 goals at a healthy 17/10 or over 5.5 at 7/2 if you’re feeling lucky.

KEY STATS

One or both teams have failed to score in the last eight matches involving Tahiti.
Tahiti have mustered just four goals in their last eight games.
Seven of Nigeria’s last 10 games have failed to cross the 2.5 goals border (as of June 10).
That is partly because, as of June 10, the Super Eagles had fired more than twice only once in 10 internationals.

MISSING OR DOUBTFUL

TAHITI
OUT – NONE
DOUBTFUL – NONE

NIGERIA
OUT – UCHE – MOSES
DOUBTFUL – NONE

Tahiti striker Lorenzo Tehau scored five of his country’s 20 goals on the way to lifting the OFC nations cup.
Chelsea forward Victor moses might not be missed too much – he hasn’t scored from open play for Nigeria since October 13 2012.

LATEST ODDS

TAHITI WIN 22/1
DRAW – 9/1
NIGERIA WIN 1/12

OPTA JOE – 124 – the absent Victor Moses averaged a goal every 124 minutes in Europe this season (and five in total). Clinical.

Uruguay better be at their alert best when they meet Spain in the Confederations Cup’s Group B opener. After a Champions League campaign ruled by German clubs, those wearing red will have a serious point to prove about their position in the global football hierarchy.

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund’s dismantling of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively in the Champions League make this Confederations Cup tournament a rather large target for the Spanish national team ahead of the World Cup. No longer seen to own the two most feared teams in Europe, Bayern’s demolition of Barca signalled a particularly hard fall from grace. Vicente del

Bosque’s side will seek to reaffirm their world football supremacy with a dominant showing in Brazil before returning next year to retain their world title. The side have the form to realise those dreams too, having last lost on the international scene to England way back in November 2011.

That unbeaten run contains 16 wins and five draws over 90 minutes and they are yet to concede more than two goals this season. The fact Andres Iniesta and friends played Uruguay in a friendly in February and triumphed 3-1 will also add to the confidence that they’ll start this tournament with a win. The same cannot be said for Uruguay, whose bad form is overshadowed by the continuing saga of Luis Suarez’s club future.

The Dinosaurs have only managed two wins in 12 months, friendly victories over Poland and France, and have lost five of their last nine internationals (as of June 10). Their Brazil participation represents their second Confederations Cup appearance, following on from their 1997 bow when they finished fourth after losing to Czech Republic in the rather pointless third-place play-off.

Should they begin with a loss, as expected, they will have the far easier prospect of needing points against Nigeria and Tahiti in order to reach the semi-finals, something well within their reach considering their embarrassment of riches in attack. Oscar Tabarez will have the head scratching task of choosing between Suarez, Diego Forlan, Edinson Cavani and Abel Hernandez to lead the line but may need all four of them in tandem to overcome a Spanish side playing with gritted teeth.

KEY STATS

Spain are undefeated in nine all-time meetings with Uruguay.
Both teams have found the back of the net in five of Spain’s last six games (as of June 10).
Prior to their midweek clash with Venezuela, leaky Uruguay have conceded 19 goals in their last nine outings.
However, there have been under 2.5 goals in four of Uruguay’s last six games (as of June 10).

MISSING OR DOUBTFUL

SPAIN
OUT – ALONSO
DOUBTFUL – NONE

URUGUAY
OUT – NONE
DOUBTFUL – NONE

Barcelona’s Pedro Rodriguez has scored 10 of Spain’s last 23 goals and has three games ( as of june 10 )
As OF jUNE 10, one-time Manchester United flop Diego Forlan hadn’t scored for his country since June 2012, 10 appearances ago.

LATEST ODDS

SPAIN WIN – 4/7
DRAW – 14/5
URUGUAY WIN – 5/1

OPTA JOE – 10 – Cesc Fabregas is the only Spanish player to manage more than 10 goals and 10 assists in la liga this season (11 and 11). Versatile.

2 – Unscramble these letters to reveal a player.

Random Rag Rash

3 – Who played for the following clubs in this order?

Sparta Rotterdam
Feyenoord
Chelsea
Stoke

4 Who am I?

• I started my career at Notts County before moving to Birmingham, where I played over 250 games.
• However, my first-team chances became limited after promotion to the Premier League, so I moved to Derby in 2003, where I stayed for another five seasons.
• I ended my career back at Notts County, where I had two-game unbeaten stint as caretaker manager. I now coach at Birmingham.
• I gained 12 caps for Jamaica during my career and share my name with a famous athlete.

5 – Which of these Germans made their Premier League debut first?

Fredi Bobic
Jens Lehmann
Michael Tarnat
Moritz Volz
Michael Ballack

6 – Recent signing Derek Boateng will become the third Ghanaian to play for Fulham in the Premier League, who are the other two?

7 – Who are the only two players to have played over 100 Premier League games with a surname starting with the letter Q?

8 – Which five clubs have finished in the top five of the Premier League exactly once?

9 – Who was the last Englishman to win the US Open golf?

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ANSWERS TO THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS

(1) Robbie Savage, Lomana Lua Lua, Damian Johnson (2) Graham Dorrans (3) Ed De Goey (4) Michael Johnson (5) Fredi Bobic (6) John Pantsil, Elvis Hammond (7) Niall Quinn, Franck Queudrue (8) Norwich, Nottingham Forest, QPR, West Ham, Ipswich (9) Tony Jacklin

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S QUESTIONS

(1) Andrew Strauss, Ian Blackwell, Owais Shah, Kabir Ali, James Anderson, Matt Prior, Andrew Flintoff (2) Emerson Thome (3) Thierry Henry, Nuno Gomes, Vladimir Smicer, Jurgen Klinsmann (4) Kevin Horlock (5) Neil Maddison (6) Carl Cort, Seyi Olofinjana, Tuncay (7) Borussia Dortmund (8) Rio Ferdinand,  Sergei Rebrov, Michael Owen (9) Sea The Stars

42-year-old Kite finally breaks major duck Tom Kite was widely recognised as the best player in the world never to have won a major tournament when he arrived at Pebble Beach in 1992. A veteran of six USA Ryder Cup teams, with 16 Tour victories under his belt, Kite certainly owned the appropriate CV to conquer his Everest, but it seemed more likely to come on the fairways of Augusta National in the Masters, where he’d finished in the top 10 10 times before 1992, rather than in the personal scourge of the US Open – a tournament he’d broken the top 10 of just twice in 20 appearances. But he held off the challenge of countryman Jeff Sluman to win by two shots in extremely windy conditions on the final day. This year, Tiger Woods’ best bud Sergio Garcia arguably holds the unwanted “best major loser” tag and is a 40/1 shot to shake it.

June 14, 1998 Aegon Championships

Anonymous Aussie wins one and only Tour title At West Kensington’s Queens Club for the then-entitled Stella Artois Championships, Australian Scott Draper, 108th in the world, would have saved a fortune on personal security compared to the likes of fellow competitors Pete Sampras and Tim Henman. Draper had only made one final in his five-year professional career but was to be handed a golden opportunity to not only reach a second but win. By the time the quarter-finals rolled around all but four of the 16 seeds had vanished, including all of the top six. Draper himself had seen off third seed Pat Rafter and took care of two other seeds on the way to sealing his one and only ATP title. In the field at the now-named AEGON Championships this year is Grigor Dimitrov, in his fifth year as a pro, with one final and no titles to his name. He started the tournament priced 14/1.

June 18, 2009 Confederations Cup

Egypt help to book world champions Italy’s ticket home Egypt had ran Brazil close in a 4-3 defeat to open their 2009 Confederations Cup campaign in South Africa, so the prospect of facing World Cup 2006 winners Italy was hardly going to have them trembling. The Italians took the unwise decision to underestimate their opponents and rotated regular strikers, Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino, in favour of Giuseppe Rossi and Vincenzo Iaquinta. The decision proved costly as both men missed chances either side of Egypt’s goal just before half time. Mohamed Homos took the adulation of a nation when he nodded a corner in off the near post, however keeper Essam El-Hadary kept his side ahead with a string of saves as Italy poured forward. Sadly, Egypt didn’t qualify for the semi-finals but their showing will inspire Tahiti, who are 25/1 to beat Nigeria in their first group game this year.

Betting on international friendlies and youth football is the quickest way to the poor house but, with that being the only football on at the moment, they’re going to get me in some trouble over the next few weeks. As for today’s French Open semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, I couldn’t split these players on form, but was surprised to find out they’d only ever once gone the distance in a Grand Slam. That suggested to me that it wouldn’t go to five sets and I sold games with Sporting Index. Clearly I should stick to sports with big balls as I think I’m marginally better at calling football than I am at tennis. They went at it for over four-and-a-half hours before Nadal triumphed to reach an eighth final at Roland Garros. A make-up of 55 games didn’t start the weekend off in the right way.

Saturday 8 June

I was up a lot earlier than I had anticipated and gone are the days when I used to join the kids on the sofa for a morning of Tom and Jerry and programmes with minor celebrities getting gunked, so I studied the form up at Haydock instead. I sounded out De Rigueur to win the opener, buying him at 11 on the win index. The Marco Botti-trained horse was well-backed all morning and he travelled splendidly to win with ease. That got me off to a flyer and, but an hour later, I was on course for early retirement, having bought the progressive Nocturn at 17 on the win index for Newmarket’s big sprint. Nocturn is frankly a nutter and was hanging all over the gaff, but staved off the fast-finishing favourite Enrol by a nose. That was just about all the excitement I could handle and I was actually quite relieved to have a couple of disappointing losers in Libranno and Ambivalent. With the heart steadied, I went fly-fishing with a mate and lost a wedge in a match bet on our river haul. I’d never been fly-fishing before but assumed it couldn’t be too hard – I was very wrong.

Sunday 9 June

French Open final day in Paris and, sorry to disappoint you Nadal, but I’m not a massive fan of big arms and relentless groundstrokes, so I tuned in elsewhere. I like David Ferrer but he was out of his depth, so I bought his compatriot’s supremacy at 18.5 for £30. A straight sets victory made up 25 and gave me just shy of £200 that I can look forward to losing on the US Open. Matt Kuchar and Graeme McDowell will be the golfers I trust to do the business.

Czech pair cause Roland Garros doubles upset
India’s Sania Mirza and her partner Elena Vesnina were expected to coast the 2011 French Open women’s doubles final when they faced little-known Czech duo Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. The unseeded pairing, who had previously never advanced beyond the quarter-finals of any Grand Slam, looked to have their work cut out against vastly superior adversaries – Mirza was ranked as the planet’s seventh best doubles player at the time – but ran out 6-4, 6-3 winners. This capped off a remarkable tournament from the couple, who had not dropped a single set en route to hoisting the trophy. The heroic exploits of Hradecka and Hlavackova proved that it may be worth having a dabble on a Roland Garros longshot, especially in the women’s doubles field.

June 8, 2008
Canadian Grand Prix

Collision allows Kubica to claim Montreal glory
Robert Kubica arrived in Montreal in 2008 enjoying his best run in Forumla One. He’d racked up second places in Monaco and Malaysia prior to this Canadian jaunt and hadn’t placed outside the top 10 since the opening race. However, despite his relative hot streak, he’d never taken a chequered flag in his career. Having started second on the grid behind eventual title winner Lewis Hamilton, the Pole received a huge slice of good fortune when, owing to some pit lane tomfoolery, the Brit crashed into the back of Kimi Raikkonen, forcing his two biggest rivals to withdraw from contention. Kubica capitalised to the full extent, cruising home with a 16-second lead on Nick Heidfeld in second, though this proved his only victory in the sport. Scottish youngster Paul di Resta has only finished outside the top 10 once this term and still awaits his first Grand Prix win; he’s 50/1 to snap this run in Canada.

September 25, 2004
icc champions trophy

Windies tail wags to frustrate England in the final
With the West Indies 8-147 down with all their major players back in the hutch, England clinching the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy appeared a mere formality. Brian Lara’s men were left needing 70 in order to chase down the tournament hosts’ first innings total of 217 and lift the trophy for the first time, but with Ian Bradshaw and wicket keeper Courtney Browne at the crease, this seemed incredibly unlikely. These cricketing minions had other ideas, though, crashing together a ninth-wicket stand sufficient to win the match and the title, with England’s attack unable to dispense with them as they had their more reputable predecessors. The Champions Trophy will be contested on these shores again this summer, with Pakistan bidding to win it for the first time. A price as long as 7/1 says that the one-day specialists will do it.

Asian cricket sides are much the same. In their own conditions, complete with hallucination-inducing heat and pitches that turn at right angles, they are formidable opponents. But drop them in the windy, swinging conditions of England or New Zealand or have them dodging bouncers on the rock hard decks of Australia and South Africa and they soon become shrinking violets.

The chances of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are therefore extremely slim in the upcoming Champions Trophy in England, and no Asian side has ever triumphed outside of their own continent. In the major international competitions (World Cup, World T20 and Champions Trophy), there have only been four Asian winners in 14 renewals played outside the subcontinent.

Lay India to win the tournament at 8.4

Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag are both gone, instead MS Dhoni leads an extremely inexperienced squad in England. The last time an Indian side toured here, even with those stellar names, they failed to win either a test or ODI and haven’t won a 50-over game in six on these shores.

Lay Pakistan to lift the trophy at 8.8

The fact that Pakistan haven’t won consecutive ODI series since their streak of six two years ago highlights how much of a tempestuous side they are. They have lost 35 of their 64 ODI games here and haven’t experienced these testing conditions since 2010.

Lay Sri Lanka to be victorious at 12.0

The Sri Lankans have the best recent record in 50-over games in this country but aside from their now ageing core of relied-upon performers – Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Lasith Malinga – their squad is littered with players bereft of English experience.

Spend the week travelling round the world of sport laying this lot

Warwickshire’s YB40 campaign has got off to a rocky start, losing one of their first two games and having the other one washed out. Things aren’t likely to improve against Sussex, who’ve triumphed in their last three meetings, so lay the Bears.

For some reason, Ola Afolabi has bagged himself a third shot at the WBO Cruiserweight title against German belt-wearer Marco Huck.Both times the British pugilist has climbed into the ring with Huck he’s failed to win, and can be laid at 3.1.

In the three games with Croatia in their history, Scotland have never won and have only scored two goals. Laying them at 11.0 on June 7 should be near the top of your to do list, considering they’ve also won none of their six World Cup qualifiers so far.

St Nicholas Abbey bids to make history in the Coronation Cup at Epsom as he hunts a third straight win. The Aidan O’Brien horse is unlikely to achieve it though, considering he’s now six years old and nine of the last 11 winners were under that age. Lay him at 1.58.

Having the first ODI with New Zealand at Lord’s isn’t the ideal starting spot for England considering they’ve been victorious in two of their last eight there. They should be laid against the Kiwis, who have won both of their 50-over matches at the home of cricket.

Even the ineptest of Apprentice contestants could easily sell the Monaco Grand Prix given the uniqueness of the track, the gorgeousness of the backdrop, the glamour of the guests and the festival atmosphere gripping the weekend. But while the surrounding spectacle is one of sport’s ultimate showpieces, it fails to meet the most basic requirement: delivering a memorable race. Sure, you could sell Alain Prost’s hat-trick of mid-1980s triumphs or Ayrton Senna’s five wins in a row as evidence that it is a race that cements legends; however, the reality is that it is disappointingly predictable. The dominating team had provided the winner for five straight seasons until last week and – with overtaking almost impossible – the polesitter has cruised to victory in nine of the past 10 editions.

Underrated: Canadian Grand Prix

For Bernie Ecclestone, the Canadian Grand Prix is like old Christmas specials of My Family: it doesn’t inspire a buzz or merit a blast from the hype machine but almost always sneaks onto the schedule. Bernie even took the liberty of bumping them off the calendar in 2009. Yet it produces more on-track entertainment than Monaco with far less expectation, with the fastest qualifier completing the sometimes seamless stroll from front of grid to top of podium just three times since 2001. An appetite for unpredictability is proven by two of the last five winners claiming what was a maiden Formula 1 success. And where Monaco has its tunnel, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has an even more iconic party piece: the wall of champions, so-called because it has swallowed countless greats. The Canadian Grand Prix also has a handy knack of churning out a British victor, with four in the past five editions.