I’ve got a good feeling about the 2009 Confederations Cup. Sure, it’s not the most important tournament in the world. It’s really just a World Cup 2010 test run, and no one’s going to be too upset if they don’t win it. But there are still plenty of reasons to get interested.
Here’s a quick reminder of how it all works: It’s an eight team tournament featuring the World Cup hosts, the World Cup holders and then the six confederation champions. Here’s what the groups look like.
Group A: South Africa, Spain, Iraq, New Zealand
Group B: USA, Italy, Brazil, Egypt
Any tournament featuring Spain, Italy and Brazil is worth watching. That’s just a fact. USA fans will get to see their team face some serious opposition x 3, while underdog can go ahead and cheer for Iraq and New Zealand.
The tournament runs from June 14th to June 28th, and if you’re US or UK based then you’ll have no trouble finding it on TV. Here are the schedules:
2009 Confederations Cup, ESPN TV schedule for US viewers.
ESPN are showing every game live. Except for the Iraq vs New Zealand group game, which we can forgive them for. Games will be shown across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com (which is a great little service, provided you have the right internet provider). All kickoff time are US Eastern, all programming starts five minutes before kickoff (so you’ll have to do your own previews).
GROUP STAGE:
Sunday, June 14th
South Africa vs Iraq (Johannesburg) Group A, 10am, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
New Zealand vs Spain (Rustenburg) Group A, 2:30pm, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
Monday, June 15th
Brazil vs Egypt (Bloemfontein), Group B, 10am, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
USA vs Italy (Pretoria) Group B, 2:30pm, ESPN/360.com (Live)
Wednesday, June 17th
Spain vs Iraq (Bloemfontein) Group A, 10am, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
South Africa vs New Zealand (Rustenburg) Group A, 2:30pm, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
Thursday, June 18th
USA vs Brazil (Pretoria), Group B, 10am, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
Egypt vs Italy (Johannesburg) Group B, 2:30pm, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
Saturday, June 20th
Iraq vs New Zealand (Johannesburg) Group A, 2:30pm kickoff BUT will be shown delayed - June 21st, 1am, ESPN2/360.com
Spain vs South Africa (Bloemfontein) Group A, 2:30pm, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
Sunday, June 21st
Egypt vs USA (Rustenburg) Group A, 2:30pm, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
Italy vs Brazil (Pretoria) Group A, 2:30pm, ESPN/360.com (Live)
SEMIFINALS
Wednesday, June 24th
1st Group A vs 2nd Group B (Bloemfontein), 2:30pm, ESPN/360.com (Live)
Thursday, June 25th
1st Group B vs 2nd Group A (Johannesburg), 2:30pm, ESPN/360.com (Live)
THIRD PLACE PLAYOFF
Sunday, June 28th
(Rustenburg), 9am, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
FINAL
Sunday, June 28th
(Johannesburg) 2:30pm, ESPN2/360.com (Live)
[Source: SportsMediaNews]
2009 Confederations Cup, BBC TV schedule for UK viewers
The BBC are showing every game, but you’re going to need digital TV to see them. Games are spread across BBC Three, and BBC Red Button (ie you click the red interactive button and there it is). All time BST.
Programming for 3pm kickoff game starts at 2:50pm, programming for 7:30pm kickoffs starts at 7pm. Gabby Logan will be presenting, commentary will be from Jonathan Pearce, Guy Mowbray and Steve Wilson with co-commentary from Mark Bright and Martin Keown. Yep, that Martin Keown.
Every game will also be broadcast on the BBC website (available to UK residents only).
GROUP STAGE:
Sunday, June 14th
South Africa vs. Iraq (Johannesburg) Group A, 3pm, BBC Red Button (Live)
New Zealand vs Spain (Rustenburg) Group A, 7:30pm, BBC Three (Live)
Monday, June 15th
Brazil vs Egypt (Bloemfontein), Group B, 3pm, BBC Red Button (Live)
USA vs Italy (Pretoria) Group B, 7:30pm, BBC Three (Live)
Wednesday, June 17th
Spain vs Iraq (Bloemfontein) Group A, 3pm, BBC Red Button (Live)
South Africa vs New Zealand (Rustenburg) Group A, 7:30pm, BBC Three (Live)
Thursday, June 18th
USA vs Brazil (Pretoria), Group B, 3pm, BBC Red Button (Live)
Egypt vs Italy (Johannesburg) Group B, 7:30pm, BBC Three (Live)
Saturday, June 20th
Iraq vs New Zealand (Johannesburg) Group A, 7:30pm, BBC Red Button (Live)
Spain vs South Africa (Bloemfontein) Group A, 7:30pm, BBC Three (Live)
Sunday, June 21st
Egypt vs USA (Rustenburg) Group A, 7:30pm, BBC Red Button (Live)
Italy vs Brazil (Pretoria) Group A, 7:30pm, BBC Three (Live)
SEMIFINALS
Wednesday, June 24th
1st Group A vs 2nd Group B (Bloemfontein), 7:30pm, BBC Three (Live)
Thursday, June 25th
1st Group B vs 2nd Group A (Johannesburg), 7:30pm, BBC Three (Live)
THIRD PLACE PLAYOFF
Sunday, June 28th
(Rustenburg), 2pm, BBC Red Button (Live)
FINAL
Sunday, June 28th
(Johannesburg) 7:30pm, BBC Three (Live)
[Source: BBC Press Release]
And there you have it. Nice to see this accessible on both sides of the Atlantic. US viewers will get an idea of how ESPN plans to cover WC2010.
Outside of the US and UK, this document should tell you which broadcaster has the rights in your country (it’s 17 pages long, but divided by continent and in alphabetical order). Also, if anyone has links to full TV schedules from any other countries, please share in the comments.
The FIFA Congress met in the Bahamas (nice choice) today, and held a press conference afterwards. You can 
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