Brazil, Italy, Egypt and the United States were drawn together Saturday in much the tougher of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup first round groups. The other group includes host South Africa, Spain, Iraq and New Zealand in a draw conducted by FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke with assistance from the reigning Miss World and seven contestants for the 2008 event here. Maintaining tradition, the opening fixture will feature the host nation so South Africa tackles Iraq at Ellis Park on June 14 followed four hours later by New Zealand against Spain in the north-west town of Rustenburg. Bloemfontein and Pretoria are the other Confederations Cup venues with the fifth choice, the coastal city of Port Elizabeth, sidelined owing to jitters about whether their new stadium would be ready for the June 14-28 event. Branded the “festival of champions”, the quadrennial two-week tournament will serve as an on and off-field dress rehearsal for the World Cup one year later. South African government and football authorities have been told by FIFA President Sepp Blatter to use the tournament to dispel doubts about their ability to stage the first World Cup hosted by Africa. Concerns have been expressed about five new grounds being completed on time, power disruptions in a country hit by national cuts this year, and spectator security around a crime-infested country. A lop-sided draw was inevitable after the lowest ranked of the eight qualifiers, South Africa, was given the only seeding and automatically dodged Brazil and one of the two European giants. But the group lineup will bring relief to FIFA officials stressing over the form of Bafana Bafana (The Boys), who were eliminated two months ago from the 2010 African Nations Cup qualifying competition. While two losses to bogey team Nigeria were not unexpected, the failure to win or even score in home and away encounters with lightweights Sierra Leone marked the darkest hour in the 16-year Bafana Bafana history. After strong criticism from Blatter during a recent visit to South Africa, the national team strung together four wins on the trot, but three were in friendlies against virtual second-string Malawi, Ghana and Cameroon line-ups. Brazil and France has won the Confederations Cup twice each and Mexico once and the Brazilians are the only country to feature in the five previous editions. The South Americans also hold the record for record winning margins - 8-2 over Saudi Arabia and 6-0 against Australia - in a competition gaining in stature after heavy initial opposition from Europe.
