Confederations Cup: Spain vs. Tahiti Has Potential to be the Most Lopsided Game of 2013 in Any Sport

Forget about an early September SEC non-conference game, Thursday afternoon the biggest sports mismatch of 2013 is set to take place in Rio de Janeiro when Spain plays Tahiti in the Confederations Cup. A Spain victory is coming in as high as -50,000 on the money line in some places, as La Roja has been installed as an typically unheard of eight-goal favorite. (It seems reasonable to put up $50,000 for the chance to win $100, doesn’t it?)

It makes sense since Spain has won the last two European Championships and is the reigning World Cup champion, whereas Tahiti has one player on its roster who’s actually a full-time professional player. This is not going to be the second-coming of Florida Gulf Coast (remember them?) over Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament.

Players on each side have already said the result of this one is a foregone conclusion and Spain will start players Premier League stars like Juan Mata, David Silva and Santi Carzola who are usually relegated to the bench for the national team. ESPN’s Paul Carr notes the largest margin of victory in an international game was Australia’s 31-0 win over American Samoa in 2001.

Funny thing here, Spain seems just arrogant enough to pass the ball around — maintaining somewhere in the neighborhood of 92 percent possession — to squeeze out a 1-0 win to prove a point.

[Photo via Getty]