AFTER leading Real Madrid to a historic second successive Champions League title in Cardiff earlier this month — scoring twice against Juventus in a 4-1 victory, Cristiano Ronaldo was asked what was next for him.
“I have a few days to rest and then we have a [World Cup] qualifier [against Latvia] and then it’s the Confederations Cup,†he said. “It’s been a long season but I’m motivated. I feel like a young boy.â€
He scored twice again, for Portugal against Latvia in a 3-0 win, and will now lead the European champions at the Confederations Cup in Russia where he has the chance to add another title to a golden year for him.
Ronaldo is the biggest star at the10th edition of the eight-team tournament that, barring one edition since 2001, has been the dress rehearsal for FIFA’s showpiece World Cup.
His path to the title seems somehow eased with world champions Germany bringing a second-string team but hey will have to contend with a full-strength Chile team, featuring Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal.
But the South American hopefuls arrive at the tournament having been held to a 1-1 draw by Russia before falling 3-2 to Romania in their final warm-up match.
“There are many things to improve on,†said Vidal after the Romania match.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, keeps on getting better and better since reinventing himself as a centre-forward.
He has been in glorious form since helping Real win the 2016 Champions League final in Milan, where he scored the match-winning penalty against Atletico Madrid, before inspiring Portugal to the Euro 2016 crown, even though his participation in the final against France was cut short due to injury.
The 32-year-old hitman then carried Real to their first La Liga title since 2012 before inspiring them to their 12th European crown in the Welsh capital.
Now, in a Portuguese side brimming with exciting talents of Andre Silva and Bernardo Silva, he will look to add a second international title and further burnish his reputation as the best player in the world.
A title in Russia, where he won the first of his four Champions League titles with Manchester United in 2008, will mean only the World Cup would be missing from his CV.
An opportunity for that will come next year.
For Russia, the Confederations Cup marks the countdown to next year’s World Cup.
There have been concerns over security and delays over construction of the stadiums but they remain on course for the kickoff of FIFA’s showcase tournament in June 2018.
As hosts, Russia’s football team has qualify for the World Cup automatically and the Confederations Cup gives them a chance for some competitive matches.
They open the tournament with a match against Oceania champions New Zealand at St Petersburg’s Krestovsky Stadium in Group ‘A’ on Saturday.
Stanislav Cherhesov’s side might not be the favourites but they can count upon fanatical home support — which unfortunately leads to hooliganism at times, as at the Euro 2016 in France.
Russia, though, has ramped up measures against hooligans, putting as many as 191 on a blacklist and barred them from matches.
Portugal and CONCACAF champions Mexico complete Group ‘A’, with the latter — utterly dominant in their region during qualifying for the World Cup — relishing the chance to come up against the continental champions.
“We’re very happy to be here, very excited,†coach Juan Carlos Osorio said after the team arrived in Kazan. “It’s a great opportunity to compete against the best national teams and the best players.â€
Germany and Chile headline Group ‘B’ even though the former arrive at the tournament without their top players. Joachim Loew is resting his star players including Thomas Mueller, Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos and Mats Hummels and opting to give Germany’s exciting youngsters a chance to show their mettle.
“The aim is to bring a few players to world-class level so that they can help us in crucial games,†Loew said when announcing the squad.
Chile ended a 99-year wait for a major trophy when they won the Copa America in 2015, following that with victory at the Copa America Centenario last year and they have a good chance of winning a major international title at the Confederations Cup, where they start off with a match against African champions Cameroon.
Cameroon won the 2017 African Cup of Nations despite some of their top players refusing to join the squad and, unlike Chile, have been at this tournament before — in 2001 and 2003.
Completing Group ‘B’ are Australia, the AFC Asian Cup winners in 2015, who arrive at the tournament after a 4-0 humbling by Brazil in their final warm-up in Melbourne.
Yet, coach Andre Postecoglou is hopeful his side can win the tournament.
“We want to win it,†he said before departing for the tournament. “When you’re ambitious, you can have spectacular failures and spectacular successes.â€
The Confederations Cup has seen some spectacular successes and some spectacular failures.
It has seen USA, Australia and Japan make unlikely runs to the final and it marked the beginning of the end of Spain’s reign as world football’s top dogs in 2013. Brazil, who have triumphed four times, have seen a number of players announcing themselves to the world at this tournament, including Ronaldinho, Kaka and Neymar. There was a moment of sorrow too when Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe passed away while on the pitch for a semi-final against Colombia in 2003.
Yet, this could be the last time the tournament is played.
With the next World Cup in Qatar to be played in winter, and due to the searing summer heat in the Gulf state, there is no June-July window for it in 2022.
It could be hosted by another Asian country in the summer of 2021, however, as former FIFA president Sepp Blatter said, while FIFA has previously suggested the Club World Cup in the winter of 2021 in Qatar.
There will, however, be no Confederations Cup ahead of the expanded 48-team 2026 World Cup with a new six-team, four-game playoff round in November 2025 in the host country to be the test event for the World Cup the coming year.
European teams have generally been lukewarm towards the Confederations Cup over the years with Germany coach Loew going on to state that he “won’t be unhappy†if the tournament was scrapped.
Germany have twice declined to participate in the tournament, previously known as the King Fahd Cup and hosted in Saudi Arabia biennially before FIFA took over in 1997, while France and Italy have done that on one occasion each.
Yet, the Confederations Cup presents the Asian, CONCACAF and African champions a realistic chance of winning an international trophy. This year, it presents Ronaldo with a chance for that too.