Brazil to open Confed Cup against Japan
Source: Agencies |
December 2, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
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HOST Brazil will play Japan in the opening match of next year's Confederations Cup, while world champion Spain will debut against Uruguay.
Brazil will also play Italy and Mexico in Group A of the tournament among continental champions. Yesterday's draw in Sao Paulo also pits Tahiti and the yet-to-be decided winner of the African Cup of Nations alongside Spain and Uruguay in Group B.
The eight-team warm-up tournament, which helps the host country test some of its 2014 World Cup preparations, will be played June 15-30 in six Brazilian cities. The opener is in the capital Brasilia and the final at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil, again under the command of Luiz Felipe Scolari, has won three Confederation Cup titles, including the last two in 2005 and '09. Mexico, CONCACAF's Gold Cup winner last year, is the only other participating team to have won the tournament - in 1999 in a final against Brazil at home.
Despite only eight nations participating, there was a temporary mix-up during the draw when Uruguay was wrongly put in the third position in Group B. FIFA Secretary Jerome Valcke showed surprise when a subsequent ball was allotted the same third place, before Uruguay was moved to the correct second slot of Group B.
Four teams had already been allocated to their groups ahead of the draw. Brazil and Spain were the seeded teams, while Italy and Uruguay were distributed in advance to avoid matchups from teams of the same continent in the first round.
Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima and leading chef Alex Atala assisted Valcke during the draw at a convention center in South America's biggest city.
FIFA said it doesn't expect Brazil to be fully ready by next June and that the Confederations Cup will not serve as a full-scale rehearsal of the World Cup itself, which is expected to attract 500,000 international visitors.
"It's a question of trust and confidence when the World Cup is going to a country," FIFA President Sepp Blatter said. "The football community, they trust and they are confident with the organization of Brazil."
Brazil will also play Italy and Mexico in Group A of the tournament among continental champions. Yesterday's draw in Sao Paulo also pits Tahiti and the yet-to-be decided winner of the African Cup of Nations alongside Spain and Uruguay in Group B.
The eight-team warm-up tournament, which helps the host country test some of its 2014 World Cup preparations, will be played June 15-30 in six Brazilian cities. The opener is in the capital Brasilia and the final at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil, again under the command of Luiz Felipe Scolari, has won three Confederation Cup titles, including the last two in 2005 and '09. Mexico, CONCACAF's Gold Cup winner last year, is the only other participating team to have won the tournament - in 1999 in a final against Brazil at home.
Despite only eight nations participating, there was a temporary mix-up during the draw when Uruguay was wrongly put in the third position in Group B. FIFA Secretary Jerome Valcke showed surprise when a subsequent ball was allotted the same third place, before Uruguay was moved to the correct second slot of Group B.
Four teams had already been allocated to their groups ahead of the draw. Brazil and Spain were the seeded teams, while Italy and Uruguay were distributed in advance to avoid matchups from teams of the same continent in the first round.
Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima and leading chef Alex Atala assisted Valcke during the draw at a convention center in South America's biggest city.
FIFA said it doesn't expect Brazil to be fully ready by next June and that the Confederations Cup will not serve as a full-scale rehearsal of the World Cup itself, which is expected to attract 500,000 international visitors.
"It's a question of trust and confidence when the World Cup is going to a country," FIFA President Sepp Blatter said. "The football community, they trust and they are confident with the organization of Brazil."
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