Confederations Cup 2013: Italy prevails in 7-goal thriller

The Japanese squad experienced yet another heartbreaking moment in stoppage time, when what they thought was a dramatic equalizer was disallowed for offside.

• Tahiti gets its big moment

This is one of the most insane games in recent memory, and it’s not over yet. Italy turned a 2-0 deficit in to a lead in 13 minutes, then conceded an equalizer, then took the lead again before the end of the match. With the score tied up at 3-3, Sebastian Giovinco netted what looks like it could be a winner for Italy, though counting either team out in a 4-3 game seems utterly ridiculous.

His goal couldn’t have been any simpler.

Well, this game has officially gone nuts. After Japan went up 2-0, they conceded three straight. Just when it looked like they were done, Shinji Okazaki busted out this gem to level the match at 3-3.

WE WANT MORE GOALS.

Japan are playing really well against Italy, aren’t they? They’ve done a great job to take a 2-0 lead...

Oh god.

Kagawa did brilliantly to hold off his defender and keep his eye on a bouncing ball before hitting this great strike into the back of the net.

Disappointed Juventini collectively respond, “don’t hold your breath.’

It’s close, but the referee probably made a mistake. Buffon appears to get a lot of ball on a safe challenge, in front of Okazaki. Also, the referee showed a yellow card, despite it being a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Generally, an incident like that should result in a red card or a no-call. The fact that the referee gave neither suggests that he might not have been confident in his decision.

Kickoff is at 6 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ESPN in the United States.

• Tahiti gets its big moment

Brazil took the lead in the 9th minute thanks to their biggest star and some lax defending. Alves set up the chance with a cross into the box, which ‘Maza’ Francisco Rodriguez weakly cleared away. His header only got as far as Neymar, who smoked a volley past Corona at his near post from 18 yards.

The rest of the first half was less encouraging from Brazil. They broke quickly when Mexico lost the ball, but never looked much like scoring. El Tri, poor for around the first 20 minutes, were arguably the better side late in the half.

I’m going to apologize in advance because I’m guessing many of you are already growing tired of us telling you how amazing Neymar is. So I’m sorry, but the kid is amazing. First there was his goal to put Brazil ahead in the first half, which was nice. His assist to put Mexico away late in the second half?

There aren’t adjectives to describe this stuff.

I imagine this little bird was flying around the Castelão today, saw a soccer match going on, and thought “Hey, why not stop by and check out Neymar?”:

Hopefully some talent scouts were watching and saw the bird’s excellent run.