Festival football in store at FIFA Confederations Cup (FIFA.com) Tuesday 15 February 2005

Festival football in store at FIFA Confederations Cup
(FIFA.com) Tuesday 15 February 2005
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The FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 is already proving a major hit in Germany. With four months still to go until the prestigious tournament kicks off, more than half the match tickets have been sold and the teams are champing at the bit ahead of this summer's "Festival of Champions".

Representatives of the eight participating associations met in Frankfurt on Monday for a FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 Workshop. The session, chaired by FIFA Organising Committee President Chuck Blazer, covered a range of topics in preparation for the event at five stadiums from 15 to 29 June 2005. Leading personalities at the seminar included Greece coach Otto Rehhagel and Tunisia boss Roger Lemerre, who led France to European Championship glory five years ago. Germany assistant coach Joachim Löw and team manager Oliver Bierhoff also took part.

All present were thoroughly looking forward to the event. "Obviously everyone in Greece is thrilled at the prospect of a game against Brazil. You don't get to play the Brazilians every day!" declared reigning European champions' coach Otto Rehhagel. Drawn in Group B, the Greeks face the FIFA World Cup holders in Leipzig on 16 June 2005, before taking on Asian champions Japan in Frankfurt on 19 June and Gold Cup winners Mexico on 22 June in the same city.

Rehhagel's Tunisian counterpart regards the FIFA Confederations Cup as an all-too-rare opportunity to measure his side against the big names of world football. "We'll have to run ourselves into the ground," the French-born boss declared. Lemerre coached Tunisia to the African Cup of Nations trophy in January 2004, and his reward is an attractive draw in Group A. The North Africans open against Olympic gold medallists and Copa America runners-up Argentina on 15 June in Cologne, before meeting hosts Germany on 18 June in the same city and Australia on 21 June in Leipzig.

Tunisia are currently struggling in 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ qualifying, mired second from bottom in Group 5 with only one win in four matches and a mountain to climb in pursuit of a place at the world showcase event in summer 2006.

The workshop featured exhaustive information on a range of topics including ticketing, accommodation, training facilities, transportation and matchday procedures. On Tuesday, the representatives set off on an inspection tour of the host cities and stadiums. The tour began in Frankfurt before moving on to the Franken-Stadion in Nuremberg, the Zentralstadion in Leipzig, and the stadiums in Hanover and Cologne.

Chairman Chuck Blazer praised the local organisers: "I'm really impressed. There's a lot of hard work going on. We're already a long way down the track. The players will be thrilled when they run out in these stadiums. I'm sure we'll see some great matches. Our goal is to spend this time together preparing the teams for the tournament, as we don't want any late surprises."

2006 FIFA World Cup OC vice-president Wolfgang Niersbach pointed out that the spectacular line-up has clearly struck a chord among the fans. The Final, semi-finals and the matches featuring Germany and Brazil all sell-outs, he reported. Germany team manager Bierhoff underlined his side's determination to please the home crowds: "It would be good to win the FIFA Confederations Cup if only to show we have what it takes to beat the best in the world. It will be interesting to see how our young team copes with the weight of expectation."

Holger Osieck, head of the FIFA Technical Study Group and assistant coach to the 1990 FIFA World Cup winning German team, emphasised the star quality of the tournament: "You could call it the World Cup in miniature. All the teams are heavyweights. I think we can look forward to some attractive matches as they're all coming to win it."