How important is Confed Cup for Brand SA?

In addition to the winners of each of the six confederation championships, the FIFA World Cup winner and the host country are engaged in the tournament.

Impressions will prevail until 2010

At a recent media briefing in Johannesburg, FIFA TV director Niclas Ericson said a lot hinged on the success of the Confederations Cup and how well South Africa does in this tournament. "The impression about SA that visitors will make after the conclusion of the Confederations Cup will be the one that will stay with the international community until the world cup next year.

"We expect that there will be a few problems here and there and we welcome criticism from visitors. That is what the tournament is for and hopefully all those mistakes are rectified ahead of the world cup. But there is only room for small mistakes and not big ones," explained Ericson.

This begs the question: what were the mistakes - and successes - of the previous tournament holders, Germany, at the 2005 showpiece? This was was won by Brazil, which demolished its continental rivals Argentina 4-1 in the final and scooped the awards for both the Golden Ball (Player of the Tournament) and Golden Shoe (top scorer), both going to Brazilian forward Adriano.

What went right in 2005?

The highlights of the 2005 Confederations Cup that set the benchmarks for subsequent tournaments were as follows:

• Ticketing: the 2005 games sold a record 92% of tickets, with most of the 16 games sold out (among them all the Germany and Brazil games), and only a few games, such as Japan vs Mexico and Australia vs Tunisia, not fully sold out.

• Soccer: the quality of soccer displayed during the 2005 tournament was of a high standard - as opposed to previous tournaments, most teams, notably the German and Latin American ones, decided to play an offensive brand of soccer, going for scoring goals rather than preventing such. As a result, a record number of goals were scored, a total of 56 goals over 16 games, amounting to an all-time high of 3.5 goals per game (as compared to 2.25 at the 2003 Cup held in France and 1.93 at the 2001 held in Japan/Korea).

• Winning host team: Germany proved box-office hits, with the German team - previously labeled the worst performing German team of all times - beating Australia 4-3 in the opening game, holding mighty Argentina to a 2-2 draw, and proceeding to third place by overpowering Mexico 4-3 and scoring the most goals of any team during the tournament.

What went wrong in 2005?

• During the final, which saw Brazil pitted against Argentina, the roof of the Frankfurt stadium was leaking, which caused huge embarrassment, as rain showers were gushing down and the corner section of the pitch was hit badly.

• Security breaches caused German LOC boss Franz Beckenbauer sleepless nights, as more than once so-called ‘runners' jumped the fences and sprinted towards their heroes, in particular Ronaldinho and German goalie Jens Lehman, leaving many observers to wonder whether the German police was up to the task of guaranteeing player safety.

• Ambush branding was a hot topic during the 2005 Confed Cup, when a German automobile service supplier, TüV Süd, launched a branded zeppelin that circled the Nuremberg stadium repeatedly, causing major embarrassment for the organisers.

Delivering Zuma's 2010 promise

At the end of the 2005 tournament, the media's verdict was: “Participants and fans alike ended up unanimous on one thing. The FIFA Confederations Cup Germany 2005 left them wanting more - more football and more thrills”.

Hopefully, this is what the 2009 Confed Cup will do for international audiences - and, once and for all, put the world's doubts to rest that South Africa can deliver President Zuma's 2010 promise of “hosting a world-class event that will forever change the perceptions of the international community, and also ensure a lasting legacy for the people of Africa.”