Spain are 1/12 to win on their Confederations Cup debut

New Zealand aren’t likely to end Spain’s long unbeaten run

Even though we’ve questioned the importance of the Confederations Cup, we’re grateful for any football that we can watch live on TV over these barren months. Here are some statistics on both matches taking place on Sunday:

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South Africa v Iraq
The opening match in this showcase of the world’s greatest footballing nations pits Iraq, who are below Wales in the world rankings and lost 4-0 to Oman earlier this year, against South Africa, who only qualified for the tournament as hosts, have never been past the group stage at the World Cup and failed to qualify for next year’s African Cup of Nations. South Africa have won six of the last seven games that they’ve hosted and home advantage should prove enough to overcome an Iraq side who will be marking the one-year anniversary of their last win on Sunday - 2-1 away to China.

Posted: June 12th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Spain are favourites to win the Confederations Cup

Click here for all the latest odds on the 2009 Confederations Cup

Arguably the least prestigious tournament in international football gets going in South Africa this weekend and we still don’t really understand what’s at stake. All the continental champions and the World Cup holders are there but they aren’t fighting to be crowned the best team in the world. In fact, the only country who really stand to benefit are South Africa, who didn’t have to earn their place in the Con Cup and will gain experience of hosting an international tournament ahead of one that actually matters next summer.

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» The Con Cup participants are supposed to be eight of the best teams in the world but the bookmakers clearly don’t see it that way. There is a huge gap between the challengers and the also-rans in the winner’s market betting, with Spain, Brazil and Italy all 7/2 or less while the other five teams - South Africa, Egypt, USA, Iraq and New Zealand - are 20/1 or more.

» The chances of South Africa, Egypt, Iraq and New Zealand are dealt a further blow by the fact that no team from Africa, Asia or Oceania have ever won the tournament. USA won’t be too confident either because the only CONCACAF winners have been Mexico, when they hosted it a decade ago.

Posted: June 12th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment