Today marks the beginning of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. The first match featured South Africa, the host nation, and Iraq, the Asian Cup winners.
The tournament is held every four years in the same nation hosting the following year's FIFA World Cup. The participants are the winners of the various FIFA confederations, six in all, as well as the defending World Cup winner and the host nation. This year's participants are (in alphabetical order):
Brazil (CONMEBOL)
Egypt (CAF)
Iraq (AFC)
Italy (World Cup 2006 Champion)
New Zealand (OFC)
South Africa (Host)
Spain (UEFA)
United States (CONCACAF)
The tournament isn't as competitive as the Euros, or nearly as popular as the World Cup, but is a good opportunity to see some countries you might not often see. I'm looking forward to it as a good warm-up to next summer's World Cup. The first match was mostly a dud, with two low-ranking teams. It got a little more entertaining towards the end when South Africa started to make a push, but still finished 0-0. There is another match, which starts today at 2:30PM ET, against New Zealand and Spain. It should hopefully be a better match.
Here's the tournament schedule and broadcast times (from ESPN Soccernet):
The tournament is held every four years in the same nation hosting the following year's FIFA World Cup. The participants are the winners of the various FIFA confederations, six in all, as well as the defending World Cup winner and the host nation. This year's participants are (in alphabetical order):
Brazil (CONMEBOL)
Egypt (CAF)
Iraq (AFC)
Italy (World Cup 2006 Champion)
New Zealand (OFC)
South Africa (Host)
Spain (UEFA)
United States (CONCACAF)
The tournament isn't as competitive as the Euros, or nearly as popular as the World Cup, but is a good opportunity to see some countries you might not often see. I'm looking forward to it as a good warm-up to next summer's World Cup. The first match was mostly a dud, with two low-ranking teams. It got a little more entertaining towards the end when South Africa started to make a push, but still finished 0-0. There is another match, which starts today at 2:30PM ET, against New Zealand and Spain. It should hopefully be a better match.
Here's the tournament schedule and broadcast times (from ESPN Soccernet):
| Sunday, June 14, 2009 | ||||||
| Time | Home | Away | STAGE | TV | VENUE | |
| 10:00 ET | South Africa | v | Iraq | Group A |  | Ellis Park |
| 14:30 ET | New Zealand | v | Spain | Group A | | Real Bafokeng |
| Monday, June 15, 2009 | ||||||
| Time | Home | Away | STAGE | TV | VENUE | |
| 10:00 ET | Brazil | v | Egypt | Group B | | Free State |
| 14:30 ET | United States | v | Italy | Group B |  | Loftus Versfeld |
| Wednesday, June 17, 2009 | ||||||
| Time | Home | Away | STAGE | TV | VENUE | |
| 10:00 ET | Spain | v | Iraq | Group A | | Free State |
| 14:30 ET | South Africa | v | New Zealand | Group A | | Real Bafokeng |
| Thursday, June 18, 2009 | ||||||
| Time | Home | Away | STAGE | TV | VENUE | |
| 10:00 ET | United States | v | Brazil | Group B | | Loftus Versfeld |
| 14:30 ET | Egypt | v | Italy | Group B | | Ellis Park |
| Saturday, June 20, 2009 | ||||||
| Time | Home | Away | STAGE | TV | VENUE | |
| 14:30 ET | Iraq | v | New Zealand | Group A | | Ellis Park |
| 14:30 ET | Spain | v | South Africa | Group A | | Free State |
| Sunday, June 21, 2009 | ||||||
| Time | Home | Away | STAGE | TV | VENUE | |
| 14:30 ET | Italy | v | Brazil | Group B | | Loftus Versfeld |
| 14:30 ET | Egypt | v | United States | Group B | | Real Bafokeng |
| Thursday, June 25, 2009 | ||||||
| Time | Home | Away | STAGE | TV | VENUE | |
| 14:30 ET | TBD | v | TBD | Semi-finals | Ellis Park | |
| Sunday, June 28, 2009 | ||||||
| Time | Home | Away | STAGE | TV | VENUE | |
| 9:00 ET | TBD | v | TBD | Third Place | Real Bafokeng | |
| 14:30 ET | TBD | v | TBD | Final | Ellis Park | |
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