Was the recent FIFA Confederations Cup a foretaste of a wonderful FIFA World Cup?
The Confederations Cup matters in the first instance because it’s a good final dry-run for the World Cup’s host nation in terms of organisation and operations. It also gives the teams a chance to acclimatise. And it’s very important that the host nation sits up and notices it’s all about to happen very soon. There’s less than a year to go now, so that’s a good sign. Can Germany be described as one of the favourites for South Africa 2010? I think we belong in that category. We came third at the 2006 World Cup and even went one better at EURO 2008. The European teams will play a significant role. But we’ll have to be cautious, as an African team could well cause a stir, depending on who’s there and who hits form. Egypt gave a very decent account of themselves at the Confederations Cup. Otherwise, it’s basically a case of the usual suspects, the Argentinas and Brazils, who’ll rate as favourites in my book. Germany and Russia are involved in a neck-and-neck race for top spot in European Zo
