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SteemSports Presenter: @timoshey

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SteemSports Editor: Nolan Jacobson, @theprophet0, STEEM Witness & PeerPlays Witness.

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Russia

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Russia and Chile played out a 1-1 draw in a friendly on Friday ahead of the Confederations Cup. Russia leveled the game in the 67th minute when Viktor Vasin scored a powerful header off Dmitry Kombarov’s corner after Alexis Sanchez had assisted Mauricio Isla to score the first goal of the game. This draw against Chile, the South American Champions, will surely lift the morale in the Russian camp. The Russian team has already lost midfielder Alan Dzagoev and striker Artyom Dzyuba to injuries. We have seen some former fringe players come in to replace older players. Fringe players such as defenders Vasin, Fyodor Kudryashov and Roman Shishkin. Russia kicks off its Confederations Cup campaign in Group A against New Zealand on the 17th of June. The friendly game against Hungary on the 5th of June ended 3-0 in favor of Russia. Goals from Fedor Smolov, Dmitry Poloz and an own goal from Eppel helped settle the game.

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Portugal

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Just fresh from winning his second Champions League title in two years, Cristiano Ronaldo is back with the Portugal team and he is hoping that he can help his country lift the Confederations Cup just as they lifted the UEFA Euro Cup. There was the fear that Ronaldo may be given the summer off and not participate at the Confederations Cup, but the Real Madrid star was called up to the squad with the likes of Manchester City’s new boy Bernardo Silva, Joao Moutinho and Nani also making the squad.

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The Confederations Cup is not high on Fernando Santos’s list of priorities, the manager sees reaching next year’s World Cup much more important than adding the Cup to last summer’s victory in France. Portugal’s last two games against Cyprus and Latvia ended 4-0 and 3-0 respectively in favor of Portugal. Two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and one from Andre Silva helped Portugal to a 3-0 victory over Latvia on Friday in the World Cup qualifiers.

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New Zealand

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Anthony Hudson, the coach of the New Zealand team will be hoping the team can build on their success in the 2016 OFC Nations Cup when he takes his 23-man squad to Russia for the Confederations Cup. This will be New Zealand’s fourth appearance in the Confederations Cup and surprisingly, they are yet to win a single match in this competition. Anthony Hudson will be looking to Shane Smeltz, Chris Wood and Ryan Thomas among others to help supply the much-needed goals in the tournament. Also, New Zealand played Northern Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers on the 2nd of June. They lost that game 1-0 courtesy of a goal from L. Boyce in the 6th minute. They also lost the game to Belarus 1-0.

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Mexico

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Mexico will open their account in the Confederations Cup against Portugal on the 18th of June, 2017. They will be hoping they can kick off their campaign with a win over the UEFA Euro Cup champions and try to win the Confederations Cup for the second time thus tying France in second place for the most FIFA Confederations Cup win. Juan Carlos Osorio, coach of the Mexican national team believes that Mexico has a strong Confederations Cup tradition which also serves as a motivational factor for the team. He said that the Confederations Cup will enable the national team to get a taste of what to expect if they qualify for the World Cup.

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Mexico has been preparing very well for the upcoming competition by participating in World Cup qualifiers. They won their game against Honduras 3-0 courtesy of goals from Alanis, Lozano and Jimenez. They drew their game against the United States 1-1. Carlos Vela equalized for Mexico after the United States took the lead just 6 minutes into the game.

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Germany

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So many people have criticized the German national team coach, Joachim Low for his Confederations Cup squad selection. The coach left out star names such as Real Madrid’s Toni Kross, Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, Dortmund’s Marco Reus, Mario Gotze, and Julian Weigl.

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The coach has defended his squad selection saying that his star names needed to rest ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He said further, that he has total trust in the players he has selected to represent the country in the Confederations Cup. Germany continued their preparations for the Confederations Cup with an impressive 7-0 win over San Marino. Sandro Wagner scored a hat trick in that game and helped Germany retain their 5 points lead at the top of Group C in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Other goals came from Julian Draxler, Mustafi, Brandt and Younes. The Germans will kick off their campaign against Australia on the 19th of June 2017.

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Chile

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The inclusion of Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez to the squad list will be a massive boost for the Chile national team. Sanchez scored an impressive 30 goals for Arsenal last season in all competition and he will be looking to transfer this great goal scoring form to the Confederations Cup. Bayern Munich’s Arturo Vidal is also present in the squad and he would be looking to provide solidity to the team and also help the team move forward and achieve their aim.

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Chile’s last 3 games have not been impressive. Asides the 3-0 victory over Burkina Faso, they have gone ahead to draw their game against host nation Russia 1-1 and lost against Romania 3-2. They kick off their campaign with a game against Cameroon on the 18th of June 2017.

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Cameroon

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Cameroon won the African Nations Cup by defeating Egypt in the final 3-1. Cameroon’s preparation for the upcoming FIFA Confederations Cup has not been quite impressive. Aside from a 1-0 victory over Tunisia on the 24th of March, 2017, the indomitable Lions of Cameroon have gone on to lose their other two matches against Guinea and Colombia 2-1 and 4-0, respectively.

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They will be opening their account against the South American Champions Chile on the 18th of June 2017. The Cameroonians will be looking to better their runners-up finish in the 2003 edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup.

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Australia

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Australia qualified for the Confederations Cup in Russia by winning the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The Socceroos lifted the trophy on home soil, defeating Korea Republic 2-1 in the process in a dramatic final on the 31st of January 2015. Australia has been featured at three previous FIFA Confederations Cups, enjoying two strong performances in the process. Their best performance came in 1997 when they surrendered to Brazil in the final. They were thrashed 6-0 on the 21st of December 1997. Australia’s last two games ended in a 3-2 victory over Saudi Arabia and a 4-0 defeat against Brazil. As luck will have it, they won’t have to face Brazil in this tournament, but will face equally good teams, teams like Germany, Chile and Cameroon.

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