http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8088226.stm


On Sunday, the eight-team Fifa Confederations Cup gets under way in South Africa when the host country take on Iraq in Johannesburg.

It is the eighth edition of a tournament that is still something of a mystery to many football fans around the globe.

So, what is the Confederations Cup? How did it start? And what do the home nations have to do if they want to get involved? Read BBC Sport's guide to Fifa's best-kept secret,


IN THE BEGINNING,
The competition began life in 1992 as the King Fahd Cup, the brainchild of the late Saudi Prince Faisal ibn Fahd.

The four-team tournament comprised Saudi Arabia, who were the 1988 Asian Cup winners, Argentina, the 1991 Copa America champions, 1991 Concacaf Gold Cup winners USA, and Ivory Coast, victors at the 1992 African Nations Cup.

CONFED CUP WINNERS (hosts)
1992: Argentina (Saudis)
1995: Denmark (Saudis)
1997: Brazil (Saudis)
1999: Mexico (Mexico)
2001: France (S Korea/Japan)
2003: France (France)
2005: Brazil (Germany)
Alfio Basile's Argentina triumphed, beating the Saudis 3-1 in the final in front of 75,000 fans thanks to goals from Leonardo Rodriguez, Claudio Caniggia and Diego Simeone.

The second edition also took place in Saudi Arabia in 1995, this time the hosts were joined by Argentina, Mexico, Japan, Nigeria and Denmark, who beat the 1992 champions 2-0 in the final.

It became known as the Confederations Cup in 1997 when Fifa took control of the competition. From then on it was staged every two years, with Brazil and France (twice each) and Mexico all triumphing.

From 2005, Fifa announced that the cup would be held every four years, one year before each finals tournament in the host country of the forthcoming World Cup.

Which means, with less than a year to go before the World Cup, it is the turn of South Africa.


WHAT'S THE POINT?
Having started as a relatively small-time affair between the winners of four continental cups, the Confederations Cup is now of paramount importance.

This year's tournament, as it did for Germany in 2005 and Japan and South Korea in 2001, gives South Africa the perfect opportunity to fine-tune its hosting skills ahead of putting on one of sport's greatest events next year.

The state of their stadia, transport links, ticket sales, marketing campaigns - you name it, if it is on the agenda for the World Cup, it is almost certainly being tried out this time around.

It's very important for Fifa and for the participating teams. I'm sure it'll be a great tournament

Fifa president Sepp Blatter
Even South Africa's notorious crime rate will be monitored to see what measures can be put in place before the entire footballing planet descends on the southernmost corner of the continent in 2010.

About £1.2m has been spent on marketing the so-called 'Festival of champions' to try and generate interest in the host country, with ticket sales relatively slow.

"The campaign is good," said Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke. "It would be a shame if we don't have full stadia. It is a unique chance, it is something special."

On Friday, two days before the start of the tournament, organisers revealed all but 1,000 tickets has been sold for the opening match and 453,218 of the 640,000 tickets, or 71%, had been snapped up for the entire competition.

World Cup organising chief Danny Jordaan added: "We feel confident we are going to deliver a hugely successful Confederations Cup."

Fifa will be watching on with interest, president Sepp Blatter casting his eye over proceedings to make sure the South Africans can produce in 2010.

"It's definitely time to kick off now, not only in terms of the organisation, but in terms of making sure they can deliver and will deliver," said Blatter. "This cup, one year before the big event, is crucial."

mukina2:

shior . .you go vex tire Spain will spell New Zealand

i hate watching matches like that.

But at least there will be goals and quality players on parade even though it will most likely be one sided!
South Africa and Iraq was pathetic!

mukina2:

Crashy i nor tell you

I nor mind, the goals just dey rain!
NZ lacks ambition, no fight at all!

chamotex:

This is a handicap match . . . . . Spain should only be allowed to play with 6 players in this sort of game.

~Sauron~:

Is this on SKYSPORTS?

A-40:

Cesc! 4!

MrCrackles:


I nor mind, the goals just dey rain!
NZ lacks ambition, no fight at all!

MrCrackles:


Nah
Geddit here http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/default.stm

~Sauron~:

It's on SKY, u self-servicer!!!
Live on BBC 3.

New Zealand playing Spain??
FIFA must be very mad.

Hehehe
Oh you have paid your sky bills now heh?

MrCrackles:

Hehehe
Oh you have paid your sky bills now heh?

~Sauron~:

This is a total mis-match!!!
Spain Vs New Zealand. It's like[b] Nigeria vs Gambia[/b].

Muki did you see that?

A-40:

Can FIFA please ban these vuvuzelas? Gosh sometimes i think i have killer bees in my house when i hear that annoying cacophony of noise

It was worse when South Africa played earlier!
Stupid invention