Festival Of Champions

 By Michael Mukwuzi

 For two weeks starting on Sunday 14 June, attention of the football world would shift to the southern part of Africa as the 8th edition of the FIFA Confederation Cup sets sail. For both hosts South Africa and the visiting seven other countries, the tournament would function as a dress rehearsal for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first to be staged on African soil. While the host nation is seeking to use the competition to convince critics of its ability to stage the biggest sports show on earth, football superpowers like Brazil, Italy and Spain are hoping to test run their tactics in good time for the copa mundial.

 Billed to do battle in Group A are: South Africa, Iraq, New Zealand and Spain, while Group B consists of USA, Italy, Brazil and Egypt. Even before Sunday’s opening encounter between South Africa and Iraq the excitement was evident, both within and outside the continent. To ensure that teeming soccer fans get a good feel of the action, SuperSports, the Pan Africa sports content channel on the DSTV Bouquet, is dedicating a 24-hour channel to the tournament. All 16 matches will be broadcast live – and all in High Definition, HD format.

Besides live matches, the programming will also include archive material, panel discussions, competitions, highlights and reviews. SuperSport’s commitment to the event is reflected in the quality of studio guests who will provide expert analysis for the duration of the tournament. They include former Nigerian superstar, Daniel Amokachi, Doctor Khumalo, Clive Barker, Muhsin Ertugral, Shaun Bartlett, Kalusha Bwalya, Gary Bailey, Neil Tovey and Gavin Hunt.

 SuperSport will also produce a daily magazine programme – Harambee, a Swahili term for “coming together”. Popular hosts Robert Marawa and Thomas Mlambo will anchor the show. For the first time, every game will feature commentary in three languages: English, isiZulu and Portuguese. Viewers will have the option of choosing their preferred language on their remote control. They will also get a chance to know more about the beautiful game and its masters when two dramatic football documentaries are broadcast back-to-back during the week.

The first, Zizou the Great, looks at the life of Zinedine Zidane while the second titled: We Are United, is an unauthorised documetary on Manchester United. Without a doubt, every participating country with the exception of South Africa is a champion. Brazil as Copa America winners, African champions, Egypt, first-time Asian champions, Iraq, 2006 World Cup winners, Italy, Oceania champions New Zealand, hosts South Africa, European champions Spain, and CONCACAF Gold Cup winners, the USA.

However, the consensus among soccer pundits is that Spain is the team to beat. David Villa, top scorer at last year’s European Nations Championship finals and captain Iker Casillas will undoubtedly be two of the most high-profile players on offer at the Confederations Cup. FIFA.com spoke to the illustrious duo, who seem to be taking all the pressures of success in their stride.

“As reigning European Champions, expectations are much higher,” Villa said. “We know we’ve got to go out and defend our style of play. But we must keep our feet on the ground and take one game at a time, hopefully all the way to the final. Winning the Confederations Cup would be a terrific morale boost ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa,” Villa concluded.

Casillas fully agrees. “We’re all looking forward to the Confederations Cup. Spain have never been in this competition before and naturally we’re going to South Africa with the intention of winning it, which would be a great honour for each player and the national team as a whole,” he told FIFA.com. Should they reach the last four, Spain will be in for a real test, with Brazil and Italy favourites to qualify from Group B. So, the question is, do the Spaniards have any preferences as regards their semi-final opponents?

“They’re both strong teams and along with ourselves perhaps the most obvious contenders for the title,” Casillas said. “If we want to be champisons, we’ll have to take on the big guns, but I think the team is ready. We’ve already shown our talent against France, England and Italy, so why not against Brazil?” Casillas intoned. In all, there is no doubt that Italy and Brazil remain formidable contenders in the battle to decide who wins the first ever FIFA tournament for senior national teams to be staged on African soil.

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