Egypt Clinched History Win over Italy in Confederations Cup 2009

Egypt has achieved a remarkable unprecedented victory in the history of their football as they defeated world champion Italy on Thursday in a group stage match of ongoing Confederations Cup 2009 which is currently going on in South Africa. The 1-0 victory is considered to be the biggest ever victory for Egypt in world football and the African Nations Cup champions are now gearing up to reach the semi final from Group B which has two football powerhouses Italy and Brazil.

Egypt has been in excellent over the last few years thanks to some of their excellent players like Mohamed Aboutrika, Mohamed Zidan etc. Italy had their fare share of attacks in the game, but it was Egypt goalkeeper Essam al-Hadary made at least three or four saves throughout the match. Egypt got the only goal in the game when Mohamed Homos scored in the 40^th minute.

Italy tried hard to come back in the match and created some good chances which could have saved the Italian had Essam not made some of the finest saves of the tournament. Egypt also showed their sturdy look against Brazil in a 4-3 loss in the previous game and is now favorite to clinch one of the two semi final spots from the group. With two wins from two games, Brazil has almost ensured their semi final progress, while Italy and Egypt are vying for the second spot in the group as both sides have one win in two games. Egypt has a very good chance because they will face USA in their last group match, while world champion Italy will face tournament favorite Brazil their third and the final game of group stage. It would really be a disappointment if Italy fails to reach the semi final stage.

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Watch Confederations Cup 2009 Matches Live Television Channels

If you want to get the live score of the final match of Confederations Cup 2009 between USA and Brazil, then visit the following link:

USA vs Brazil FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 Final: Live Updates

You know that South Africa will host 2010 FIFA World Cup and the whole world is eagerly waiting to see football’s biggest tournament in African continent. Well, for those who can not hold on their patience, FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 is now out there in South Africa. The tournament involves champions of continental competitions and world champion Italy and host South Africa.

There are two groups of four teams each. All the teams will play against other group members once in the group stage and top two teams from each group will go into the semi final stage based on points achieved in the group stage.

A number of television channels are going to cover this tournament, which is ranked second after World Cup in terms of prestige. Covering the tournament involves lots of money and it is a very good chance for television channels to make some good cash in using the global appeal of the tournament.

Well, I admit that Confederations Cup does not have as much appeal as World Cup has among the football fans. Still, some of the popular television channels across the world would cover the tournament, considering the fact that football fans would be interested to see the strength of the squads of their favorite teams ahead of next year’s world cup. Here, I am giving a list of television channels which will cover the tournament:

BBC Three and Red Button TV Channel

BBC is covering all the matches of the Confederations Cup 2009. There are two games on each match day, except the semi final games. Evening games will be telecast live on BBC Three television channel, while the afternoon games will be shown live on digital interactive television channel BBC Red Button. Besides, all the matches will be telecast live on BBC Online for the US football fans.

Gabby Logan, popular presenter of BBC, will lead the BBC television team and former Arsenal star Lee Dixon will join him in discussion. Commentary team includes Jonathan Pearce, Guy Mowbray and Steve Wilson as well as co-commentators Mark Bright and Martin Keown. If you want to get the BBC schedule for the tournament, then click here.

ESPN TV Channel

ESPN television channel will telecast the matches of the tournament live for the South Asian football fans. ESPN has an expert team of analysts as well as quality commentators. So, you can expect quality coverage of the tournament on ESPN. So, if you are currently in India or other South Asian countries, then you can tune on to ESPN to enjoy the matches of Confederations Cup 2009. If you are interested then you should check out the ESPN schedule of Confederations Cup 2009 here.

Super Sports

Super Sports is one of the most popular sports channels in Africa. As the tournament is being taken place in South Africa, it is pretty much understandable that Super Sports would cover the tournament for the football fans of this region. Yes, Super Sports is telecasting the matches of the tournament live for its viewers and you can get the schedule of the channel here.

There are some other television channels which are covering the tournament in several regions of the world. You can get the list of the television channels which are telecasting the matches of Confederations Cup 2009 live in different regions around the world here.

Group B Analysis of Confederations Cup 2009

Group B of Confederations Cup 2009 can be termed as Group of Death which includes football powerhouses like Italy and Brazil alongside two teams: Egypt and USA who are capable of making upsets. So, here is the Group B preview:

United States

USA soccer team is one of the toughest sides in North America region. In fact, they have a pretty much strong squad in the presence of players from some of Europe’s top leagues. Goalkeeper Tim Howard is currently playing for Everton. Some other important players of USA squad includes Rangers midfielder DaMarcus Beasley, Fulham striker Clint Dempsey, Watford’s Jay DeMerit, Jozy Altidore of Villarreal, Freddy Adu of Benfica and defender Jonathan Spector who now plays for West Ham United. Overall, I think, USA has a very balanced side which is capable of causing few upsets in the tournament.

Italy

World cup winner Italy is one of the hot favorites of the tournament. They have a rich tradition of football and have achieved many successes in this game. I think, Italy will consider it as a practice tournament ahead of their title defense mission in world cup 2010. The players who could play vital roles for Italy are defender Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino.

Brazil

The five-time world champions are the defending champion in the tournament as they won the Confederations cup title four years back defeating Argentina 4-1 in the final. Brazil disappointed their football crazy fans in the last world cup. So, they would like to compensate some by winning this tournament. Some of their important players are Dani Alves, Kaka, Júlio Baptista, Robinho and Alexandre Pato.

Egypt

The 2008 African Cup of Nations Champion Egypt seems to be a very tough side and I would not be surprised if they cause some upsets thanks to some inspirational performances from the likes of Mohamed Aboutrika, Amr Zaki, Mohamed Zidan, Hani Said and Ahmed Fathy.

Probable Teams to Progress from Group B: Italy and Brazil

Preview of Group A of Confederations Cup 2009

I have already written an entry on FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 schedule. The tournament has gone underway 14 June with a goalless draw between South Africa and Iraq in the first game. The 8-team tournament will see two groups comprising of four teams each will stage the group stage games on a round robin league basis during which each of the participating teams will face three other teams of their group. Here, I am going to write about Group A which includes South Africa, Iraq, New Zealand and Spain.

South Africa

The host side of next world cup would like to see the Confederations Cup as a ground for home work, before making a shot to world cup in front of home crowd in 2010. South Africa squad has quality players like captain defender Aaron Mokoena who is currently playing for Blackburn Rovers.

Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar would have a big role to play as well, while Bernard Parker, Bryce Moon are among the key men of coach Joel Santana. Though South Africa did not have many successes in football except one African Cup of Nations title in 1996 and just two world cup appearances, they would like to do something special in front of their home fans this time.

Iraq

This is going to be the first Confederations Cup appearance for the war-torn country who shocked the Asian giants two years back when it surprisingly won the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in 2007. Iraq appeared in 1986 world cup, though failed to show anything special after being eliminated from the first round.

However, Iraq’s recent performance is really very impressive as they finished fourth in the 2004 Olympic Games. So, Iraqi footballers would like to give some occasions to their fans to cheer on in the tournament. They have some skilled players like Younis Mahmoud, Alaa Abdul-Zahra, Salam Shakir, Salam Shakir, Mohammed Ali Karim, Nashat Akram, Salih Sadir, Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail, Hawar Mulla Mohammed and Mahdi Karim.

New Zealand

New Zealand is the dominant side in Oceania region as they already have four continental titles to their credit. New Zealand is expecting some excellent performance from some of their key players like Ivan Vicelich, Tony Lochhead, Simon Elliott, Tim Brown, Leo Bertos, Celtic striker Chris Killen and Chris Wood who is currently playing for West Bromwich Albion. New Zealand did not have any success beyond their continent and they have not quailed for world cup ever. So, they would now try to bring out some success for the fans, even though it would be very hard to achieve.

Spain

Euro 2008 champion Spain is one of the football powerhouses in the presence of some of today’s best players like Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Xavi Hernández, Cesc Fàbregas, David Silva, David Villa, Carles Puyol and goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Spain plays in world cup regularly. Spain’s recent performance is also very impressive as they have almost clinched their place in the 2010 world cup during the ongoing world cup qualifying round. European and Latin American teams are always favorite in Confederations Cup, and I think, Spain has all the chances to win the tournament.

Probable Qualifiers of Semi Final from Group A: Spain and South Africa

Confederations Cup 2009 Schedule

FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 kicks off today (14 June 2009) with host South Africa taking on Asian Champions Iraq in the first match of the tournament at the Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg. This is the eighth edition of Confederations Cup where six continental champions along with host South Africa and World champion Italy are taking part.

Six continental champions are: Brazil as the winner of Cop America 2007, Egypt as the champion of African Cup of Nations 2008, AFC Asian Cup 2007 winner Iraq, OFC Nations Cup 2008 Winner New Zealand, Spain as the winner of Euro 2008 and United States as the Champion of CONCACAF Gold Cup 2007. The eight participating teams will be divided into two groups of four in the group stage. All the four teams in a group will face each other once in the group stage in a round robin league system. From each group, top two teams based on the points achieved will progress to the semi final stage of the tournament.

Group A consists of South Africa, Iraq, New Zealand and Spain, while Group B comprises of United States, Italy and defending champion Brazil and Egypt. The tournament will take place in four different venues across South Africa and the venues are Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg, Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria (Tshwane), Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein (Mangaung) and Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.

Here, I am giving you the schedule of the tournament:

Stage	Date	Competing Teams	Kick off	Venue
Group Stage	14 June Sun	South Africa vs Iraq	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	14 June Sun	New Zealand vs Spain	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
	15 June Mon	Brazil vs Egypt	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
	15 June Mon	United States vs Italy	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
	17 June Wed	Spain vs Iraq	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
	17 June Wed	South Africa vs New Zealand	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
	18 June Thu	United States vs Brazil	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
	18 June Thu	Egypt vs Italy	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	20 June Sat	Iraq vs New Zealand	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	20 June Sat	Spain vs South Africa	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	21 June Sun	Italy vs Brazil	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
	21 June Sun	Egypt vs United States	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
1st Semi Final	24 June Wed	Winner Group A vs Winner Group B	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
2nd Semi Final	25 June Thu	Winner Group B vs Winner Group A	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
Third Place	28 June Sun	Losers of the two semi finals	Local 15:00 GMT 13:00	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
Final	28 June Sun	Winners of the Semi Final	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg

Confederations Cup 2009 Schedule

FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 kicks off today (14 June 2009) with host South Africa taking on Asian Champions Iraq in the first match of the tournament at the Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg. This is the eighth edition of Confederations Cup where six continental champions along with host South Africa and World champion Italy are taking part.

Six continental champions are: Brazil as the winner of Cop America 2007, Egypt as the champion of African Cup of Nations 2008, AFC Asian Cup 2007 winner Iraq, OFC Nations Cup 2008 Winner New Zealand, Spain as the winner of Euro 2008 and United States as the Champion of CONCACAF Gold Cup 2007. The eight participating teams will be divided into two groups of four in the group stage. All the four teams in a group will face each other once in the group stage in a round robin league system. From each group, top two teams based on the points achieved will progress to the semi final stage of the tournament.

Group A consists of South Africa, Iraq, New Zealand and Spain, while Group B comprises of United States, Italy and defending champion Brazil and Egypt. The tournament will take place in four different venues across South Africa and the venues are Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg, Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria (Tshwane), Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein (Mangaung) and Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.

Here, I am giving you the schedule of the tournament:

Stage	Date	Competing Teams	Kick off	Venue
Group Stage	14 June Sun	South Africa vs Iraq	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	14 June Sun	New Zealand vs Spain	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
	15 June Mon	Brazil vs Egypt	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
	15 June Mon	United States vs Italy	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
	17 June Wed	Spain vs Iraq	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
	17 June Wed	South Africa vs New Zealand	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
	18 June Thu	United States vs Brazil	Local 16:00; GMT 14:00	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
	18 June Thu	Egypt vs Italy	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	20 June Sat	Iraq vs New Zealand	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	20 June Sat	Spain vs South Africa	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
	21 June Sun	Italy vs Brazil	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
	21 June Sun	Egypt vs United States	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
1st Semi Final	24 June Wed	Winner Group A vs Winner Group B	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
2nd Semi Final	25 June Thu	Winner Group B vs Winner Group A	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg
Third Place	28 June Sun	Losers of the two semi finals	Local 15:00 GMT 13:00	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
Final	28 June Sun	Winners of the Semi Final	Local 20:30; GMT 18:30	Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg