By Brendon Hanley Jun 27, 2009, 9:37 GMT
Rustenburg, South Africa - After their shock 2-0 defeat to the United States in the semi-final of the Confederations Cup, Spain will try to pick up the pieces against South Africa in the third-place match in Rustenburg on Sunday.
The hosts, who lost 1-0 to Brazil on a late free-kick goal from Dani Alves, have gained in confidence from the start of the tournament but know they9re in the firing line of the European champions who had previously won 15 matches on the trot and gone 35 matches without defeat.
But after the 'accident' against the U.S., as Spain coach Vicente del Bosque put it, the Spanish, who were dreaming of a final against Brazil, haven9t exactly expressed their motivation for the consolation prize.
Spain left back Joan Capdevila wondered at a press conference why the 'third-place game is even played,' while defender Carles Puyol hinted that the team would rather be on vacation.
But striker Fernando Torres put on a braver face, saying: 'We have to be professional and be focused on winning third for the people of Spain. We have just one more game we need to worry about here.'
He also said that the team is determined to use the defeat as a motivation on their road to the World Cup next year. Spain are currently well out in front of their European qualifying group after six matches, and the Euro 2008 champions are still considered one of the favourites for the finals.
'We9d rather this happen now than at the World Cup,' said the Liverpool forward. 'The real challenge is only just beginning.'
For their part, South Africa are hoping to continue to prove themselves after reaching the last four and putting a brave performance against the five-time World Cup winning Selecao. Spain beat the hosts in the final match of Group A, 2-0 on June 20, when La Furia Roja already knew they were into the semi-finals.
But the hosts of the 2010 World Cup also have an eye on next year9s finals. Coach Joel Santana spoke earlier in the tournament about the Confed Cup marking the one year countdown to the event, and using this as the major experience boost for the side.
'We can take a lot of hope from this performance,' said the Brazil-born boss about the loss to his native country, before adding that every match against top class competition like Spain helped his side in their pursuits: 'Thanks to matches like these, I'm sure this team will improve even more between now and the World Cup.'
As captain Aaron Mokoena put it: 'We need to take what we learn against teams like Brazil and use it next year.'
So Bafana will want to be careful not to take many steps backs against an angry Spanish side, who had outscored opponents 39-2 in the 15 matches before their loss to the States. But the hosts have played well at the back, only giving up the two goals to Spain in the group stage and the one to Brazil in the semi-finals.
Inspirational midfielder Steven Pienaar said that the side were 'full of confidence,' while Teko Modise predicted that it would be 'a nice game' for Bafana and that 'maybe both sides would use some reserve players.'
Brazil meet the United States in the final later on Sunday in Johannesburg.
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