The Confederations Cup started yesterday in South Africa. In England, we have hardly seen the tournament reported and I must admit, I thought it was a bit of a ‘Mickey Mouse’ tournament.
Poorly
The reason why the competition is so poorly regarded in England has become clear to me now that I know what it is about. As the tournament is for countries who have won things it is hardly likely to interest England!
For those who don’t know, the Confederations Cup is about as close to the World Cup as any tournament can get. Look at who is playing this year and why. South Africa are there as the hosts. Italy are there as World Cup winners and Spain as the champions of Euro 2008. Add the USA who won the Concacaf Gold Cup, Brazil, the Copa America holders. Iraq won the AFC Asian Cup, Egypt, the African Cup of nations and New Zealand, the current OFC Nations Cup holders.
Strongest
That is not a bad line up and to make things even more interesting, all the teams are taking their strongest squad. Ronaldinho has been left out of the Brazil squad and Andres Iniesta misses out for Spain through injury, but other than that, it is an all star show.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi said,
“The Confederations Cup will be an important test for us. I want us to go all the way and I also want to recreate a team spirit similar to that of the World Cup.”
Spain’s Vicente del Bosque said,
“All the teams have their best squad. We are going with the squad which we feel is the best and are obligated to enhance the prestige of this cup.”
The tournament only started in 1992 and began as a relatively small-time affair between the winners of the four continental cups. Now, however, the Confederations Cup is an important tournament in many ways. Not only is it a top competition to win, it is also used as a test for the country that is going to host the world cup.
Prepared
Obviously, next year’s world cup is in South Africa and the next two weeks will show how well prepared the South African infra-structure is. This has been the case twice before, in Germany in 2005 and Japan and South Korea in 2001.
The list of previous winners is certainly an impressive one:
1992: Argentina
1995: Denmark
1997: Brazil
1999: Mexico
2001: France
2003: France
2005: Brazil
Whoever adds their name to the list at the end of the next fortnight will certainly be worthy of joining that exceptional group of teams.
Now that I know a little more about what the tournament is all about, I shall be keeping a close eye on events to see how it pans out. You would have to think that the winners will come from Spain, Italy or Brazil, but one of the ‘lesser’ teams may well force a surprise.
It should be good.
The first two games yesterday saw the hosts South Africa give their fans little to cheer as they missed a huge number of chances in the 0-0 draw with Iraq and Spain predictably brushed New Zealand aside, winning 5-0 with a Fernando Torres hat-trick and goals from Cesc Fabregas and David Villa.
The rest of the tournament looks like this:
Group A:
Spain v Iraq (17 June, 1500 BST)
South Africa v New Zealand (17 June, 1930 BST)
Iraq v New Zealand (20 June, 1930 BST)
Spain v South Africa (20 June, 1930 BST)
Group B:
Brazil v Egypt (15 June, 1500 BST)
USA v Italy (15 June, 1930 BST)
USA v Brazil (18 June, 1500 BST)
Egypt v Italy (18 June, 1930 BST)
Italy v Brazil (21 June, 1930 BST)
Egypt v USA (21 June, 1930 BST)
Semi-finals:
Winner Group A v Runner-up Group B (24 June, 1930 BST)
Winner Group B v Runner-up Group A (25 June, 1930 BST)
Third-placed play-off:
Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg (28 June, 1400 BST)
Confederations Cup final:
Ellis Park, Johannesburg (28 June, 1930 BST)
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