Confed Cup successful- From Today’s
- Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 12:43
- Football, International Sports
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The first Confederations Cup on African soil will surely be remembered as a success on the field, even if a myriad of problems remain for organizers a year ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
The eight-team Confederations Cup tournament, which serves as a World Cup test event, produced some quality football and a surprise finalist in the United States, which led by two goals before losing 3-2 to Brazil in Sunday’s title match at Ellis Park.
Host South Africa also made it through the group stage, losing to Brazil in the semifinals and then falling 3-2 in extra time to Spain in the third-place match. “We’ve seen great football from these teams which from the beginning you think that they’re not going to qualify,” said Abedi Pele, a three-time African Player of the Year from Ghana. “And then at the end you see them in the semis and the final, so I think it has been a wonderful tournament.” But while the 16-match competition proved that South Africa is preparing steadily to host the world’s most popular football tournament in less than 12 months, it also showed that the country has a lot left to do. One of the biggest issues revolves around trying to assure visitors they will be safe and they will be able to get to and from the 10 stadiums that will be used around the country.
Although a pair of hotel break-ins involving the national teams of Egypt and Brazil were reported to police, FIFA said several times that it trusts the local authorities in South Africa. “There is a security plan for the Confederations Cup. There is a security plan for the World Cup, and we trust the South African authorities to secure both events,” FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot said during the tournament.
Brazilian delegation head Antonio Carlos Nunes de Lima doesn’t seem to be convinced, however, reportedly saying that he was “really worried” about security. He added that he wasn’t sure whether he would bring his family to South Africa for the World Cup.
“I think the players like it,” German great Franz Beckenbauer said of the cool temperatures in South Africa in June. “You could see how the players are moving, how the players are reacting, how fast the players are running.”
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