CONFEDERATION CUP GROWS IN STATURE

CONFEDERATION CUP GROWS IN STATURE

The FIFA Confederations Cup has grown in stature and prestige since it began in 1992 as the King Fahd Cup. Five years later the competition became officially known as the Confederations Cup, an intercontinental championship.

The eight team championship is now regarded as second only in prestige to the World Cup finals and is hosted 12 months before the World Cup finals in order for FIFA and the Local Organising Committee to test the readiness of their stadiums and infrastructures ahead of the world showpiece. Most coaches and countries regard the 2009 Confederations Cup as a dress rehearsal for the 2010 showpiece.

It gives teams such as Spain, Italy, Brazil and the United States - who regularly qualify for the World Cup - to get a close up look at conditions they are likely to experience should they qualify for the 2010 showpiece, which will also be staged in South Africa for the first time.

The tournament was renamed the Confederations Cup in 1997 and included the six continental champions, world champions and hosts Saudi Arabia. This format has remained and has proved popular.

South Africa’s national football team, nicknamed Bafana Bafana, made their Confederations Cup debut in 1997 as African champions and as hosts of the 2009 event.  Bafana will make their second appearance in the Confederations Cup.

Mexico beat Brazil in a classic Confederations Cup final in 1999. France won the trophy in 2001 and retained it in 2003 defeating Cameroon in an epic final.

Brazil, who feature in the 2009 Group of Death - Group B - in South Africa in June, are the holders. Brazil beat Argentina in the final in Germany in 2005.

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