This is becoming a bit of a joke, albeit a particularly funny one as soccer jokes go. Spanish striker Fernando Torres, by virtue of registering one more assist than Brazil’s Fred, has won the 2013 Confederations Cup Golden Shoe award as the tournament’s top scorer. He joins Neymar, voted the tournament’s best player, and Julio Cesar, best goalkeeper, as individual award winners after Sunday’s final, but given Torres’s much-discussed struggles, the perceived irony of another top scorer’s award may receive as much attention as Neymar’s expected honor.
Torres’s five goals, four of which came against Tahiti, left him even at the top of the competitions scoring list, allowing him to add this individual award to the Euro 2012 Golden Boot won last year. Then Torres was one of six players to finish with three goals, winning the honor on a tiebreaker, though he was not selected to the all-tournament team.
Since moving to Chelsea FC in January 2011, Torres has only scored 15 goals in 82 Premier League games. At international level, Torres has scored 10 times in 24 games, with six goals coming against Tahiti and Ireland.
Torres played 59 minutes today in Rio de Janeiro and had very little impact on the match, arguably his least influential performance in Brazil. Aside from his four against Tahiti, Torres scored against Nigeria in the final match of group play. He was scoreless in 94 minutes against Italy in the tournament’s semifinal.
The tournament’s most prestigious individual award, however, went to Brazil’s Neymar, who added two assists to the four goals that helped the Seleçao to their third-straight Confederations Cup title. After disappointing in his other major senior tournament, the 2011 Copa America, Neymar took over the festivities in Brazil, scoring within three minutes of the tournament’s start against Japan and adding a thunderous goal just before halftime of Sunday’s final.
Only 21 years old, Neymar has never played club soccer outside of Brazil, leading to a debate of his talents ahead of his impending debut with Barcelona. But in a dominant tournament in which Brazil ran a gauntlet of quality opposition (Japan, Mexico, Italy, Uruguay and Spain), the former Santos forward may have assuaged many’s doubts. Perhaps you could complain we still don’t know how Neymar will performed outside of Brazil geographically, but we have a clue as to how he’ll perform against high-level talent.
Julio Cesar, Brazil’s goalkeeper, achieved vindication of a different sort. After a club season that saw him sold by Inter Milan ahead of losing his job at Queen’s Part Rangers, Cesar ceded has place among the world’s best goalkeepers. Whether he reclaims such a spot remains to be seen, but having allowed only three goals in five Confederations Cup games, Cesar may have sparked the discussion, having been awarded the tournament’s Golden Glove.
Andres Iniesta won the Silver Ball as the tournament’s second best player, with Corinthians’ Paulinho claiming Bronze. Fred was awarded the Silver Shoe, while Neymar picked up the award as the tournament’s third-leading scorer.
Spain won the Confederations Cup’s Fair Play award.