Confederations Cup 2009: Testing South Africa, 1, 2, 3, …

The dress rehearsal for next year’s World Cup is on. 

South Africa hosts FIFA’s Confederations Cup which is contested by eight teams: the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships (CAF, CONMEBOL, UEFA, AFC, OFC, CONCACAF), along with the FIFA World Cup winner and the host country.

The games will be played in four stadiums across South Africa: Johannesburg: Ellis Park Stadium; Mangaung/ Bloemfontein: Free State Stadium, Rustenburg: Royal Bafokeng Stadium; and Tshwane/Pretoria: Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

C’mon SA – go Danny Jordaan and company!

Here’s your schedule:

Group A:
South Africa v Iraq (14 June)
New Zealand v Spain (14 June)
Spain v Iraq (17 June)
South Africa v New Zealand (17 June)
Iraq v New Zealand (20 June)
Spain v South Africa (20 June)

Group B:
Brazil v Egypt (15 June)
USA v Italy (15 June)
USA v Brazil (18 June)
Egypt v Italy (18 June)
Italy v Brazil (21 June)
Egypt v USA (21 June)

Semi-finals:
Winner Group A v Runner-up Group B (24 June)
Winner Group B v Runner-up Group A (25 June)

Third-placed play-off:
Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg (28 June)

Confederations Cup final:
Ellis Park, Johannesburg (28 June)

Our hope: Brazil-Spain on June 28 – may the best team win!

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