The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup will be the eighth Confederations Cup, and will be held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. The opening match will be played at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg. The defending champions are Brazil, who won the last Confederations Cup in 2005.
Qualified teams
South Africa CAF 2010 FIFA World Cup host
Italy UEFA 2006 FIFA World Cup winner
United States CONCACAF 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup winner
Brazil CONMEBOL Copa América 2007 winner
Iraq AFC 2007 AFC Asian Cup winner
Egypt CAF 2008 African Cup of Nations winner
Spain UEFA UEFA Euro 2008 winner
New Zealand OFC 2008 OFC Nations Cup winner
Group A
Spain
New Zealand
Iraq
South Africa
Group B
Italy
Brazil
Egypt
USA
Past Winners:
1992 - Argentina
1995 - Denmark
1997 - Brazil
1999 - Mexico
2001 - France
2003 - France
2005 - Brazil
Italy's Fixture:
2009-06-15 Italy vs USA Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
2009-06-18 Italy vs Egypt Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
2009-06-21 Italy vs Brazil Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Semi-finals:
Winner Group A vs RUNNER UP Group B
Winner Group B vs RUNNER UP Group A
Group B is the toughest, and I THINK Any of the teams in group B makes it to the second round if they were in group A. Group A, Spain will finish first.
Group B, Italy & Brazil will fight for the top place in order to avoid spain in semi-finals.
Like I said, group A seems so weak. I think EGYPT OR USA IS better then any of south africa, iraq or new zealand. But since the tournament is in south africa, they gave south africa top seeding.
Egypt really displayed a nice performance, although Brazil were pretty poor.
G.Rossi was great for Italy, the guy HAS IT in him.
Brazil need to UP their performance if they plan to reach much, they need to put 3 stable midfielder and not play the 4-2-3-1 but 4-3-2-1, since the first one is way to offensive.
2009 FIFA Confederations CUP -
15th June 2009
