  Topological configurations, monopoles and vortices, successfully describe
quark confinement and the spontaneous breakdown of chiral symmetry. Despite
their infinite action, these configurations are relevant due to a subtle
cancellation between action and entropy. A natural explanation for this
intrinsic fine-tuning is that smooth low action configurations exist which
confine and which appear as singular topological objects in certain gauges. To
reveal these confining semi-classical configurations, a new cooling method is
proposed which largely reduces the action while preserving the asymptotic
quark-antiquark potential. First numerical results for a SU(2) gauge theory
show that confining configurations with an average plaquette as high as 0.95 do
exist.
