We are now less than a week away from the start of the Confederations Cup and the first true test of South Africa’s preparedness to host the 2010 World Cup.

It’s hard for a lot of people to take the Confederations Cup seriously, although in Germany four years ago it did develop into a summer festival and in the end proved a tasty appetiser before the main meal 12 months later.

The field for South Africa is somewhat lob-sided: Brazil, Italy and the all-conquering Spanish are the strong favourites with the United States, Egypt and South Africa perhaps having the potential to create an upset. Iraq and New Zealand should pose few problems for the big teams.

Most importantly, though, this is a test of the organisational ability of the World Cup hosts, whose preparations for 2010 have been clouded by uncertainty.

That has been partly because of international scepticism over the ability of an African country to organise an event of the magnitude of the World Cup and partly because South Africa have failed dismally to spin the positives of their bid.

But the evidence of potential is now beginning to emerge from beneath the mountains of bricks and dramatic skyline of cranes.

The stadiums are all scheduled to be completed ahead of time and the country’s infrastructure is already looking sleeker and smarter, although new road works and airport upgrades continue at pace.

Ultimately, though, it will be the people who make or break the event.

There is an underlying spirit of hospitality to South Africans but it is also a country with a dangerous crime rate that makes many visitors nervous. This month presents the chance for a good deal of positive marketing.

Whether South Africa snatches up the opportunity remains to be seen.

PHOTO: A fan smiles during South Africa’s friendly against Poland at Orlando stadium in Soweto June 6, 2009, ahead of the Confederations Cup. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

One cannot fault Tunisian clubs for seeking perfection but you’d think a little more patience is needed if they are ever going to achieve their dream of continental dominance.

Take the case of Etoile Sahel. They have just fired their Swiss coach Michel Decastel for “indifferent results”.

Indifferent by their definition, is second place in the league and qualification for the final of the African Confederation Cup, the continent’s equivalent of the UEFA Cup. (more…)

You can understand why the French rarely invite any of their former colonies over for so-called friendly internationals. On Tuesday night they again faced a barrage of abuse in their own backyard, with the vast majority of a sell-out crowd at Stade de France coming to support Tunisia against Les Bleus.

When Algeria played at the Stade de France in 2001, the game was eventually called off midway through the second half after Algerian supporters invaded the pitch. The match against Morocco last year earned notoriety after the jeering during the singing of La Marseillaise.

For the north Africans it remains a singular honour to be invited to play in France and Tunisia made little of securing a berth in the last phase of Africa’s World Cup qualifying last Saturday in the wake of all the excitement of the trip to Paris.

Of all their former colonies, France have only ever hosted Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco and Tunisia in the Stade de France. And it took decades before they sent an invitation. The Ivory Coast played a game in Montpellier but Senegal, who beat France in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, still await an invitation, even though they are one of the few countries in Africa where French influence still pervades. (more…)

Africa’s remaining World Cup contenders have to travel north across the Mediterranean, over the Alps and on to Zurich next week to find out who they meet in the battle for places at the 2010 finals.

How ridiculous is it that the draw for the last phase of the African preliminaries will take place in the Swiss city ahead of a first-ever African World Cup and at a time when FIFA is trumpeting all sorts of African initiatives.

While the ceremony will take no longer than an hour, the symbolism of holding it in Zurich is sure to last longer.

One wonders what is wrong with the headquarters of African football, which are in Cairo, or in South Africa, where the next World Cup is being hosted.

The preliminary draw was a spectacular event in Durban last November and the Confederations Cup draw is scheduled for Johannesburg next month. But the draw for the business end of the African qualifiers is to be held in frosty Switzerland, stuck away in an obscure auditorium.

Holding the draw in Zurich actually makes it handy for some. African Confederation president Issa Hayatou has meetings in Zurich during the week and, as chairman of the 2010 World Cup Organising Committee, he will be a fairly important presence, one would think.

Mark Gleeson covers African football for Reuters

South Africa’s hosting of the World Cup is supposed to be a watershed for the world game and the African continent, an opportunity to emphasise the international flavour of the game and at the same time give an under privileged continent a chance to prove its potential and bask in the world spotlight.

To that end South Africa is a flurry of construction as new stadiums go up along with hotels, rail and road projects and a myriad of other infrastructure improvements.

But the most important building project should be the country’s football team, who have been to two previous World Cups but have never shown the ability to be truly considered among Africa’s real soccer superpowers.

South Africa won the African Nations Cup 12 years ago, when they hosted the tournament, reached the final two years later and were third in 2000. But it has been a downhill spiral ever since and on Saturday the team were effectively eliminated from the qualifiers for the 2010 Nations Cup finals in Angola.

A home loss to Nigeria left Bafana Bafana with four points from five matches in their group and all but mathematically out of contention. It will end a run of appearances at seven successive Nations Cup tournaments.

It is a massive embarrassment for the country that in the year in which they host the World Cup, they will not be among the 16 best African sides in the Nations Cup fields.

Even with the best organisation in the world, the finest stadiums and cheapest beer, the 2010 finals are in stark danger of falling flat unless there is some sort of performance from the home side.

Just as the Germans created a tidal wave of euphoria as they progressed to the semi-finals in 2006, so South Africa’s side have a responsibility to at least get past the first round and ensure the kind of party we’ve been getting used to at World Cups.

But on the basis of current form, there is little chance of that happening. South Africa actually outplayed Nigeria on Saturday but as the Super Eagles coach Shaibu Amodu put  it afterwards: “You don’t win games on the amount of ball possession you enjoy.”

In the same vein, you don’t host successful World Cups unless you have a decent team in the competition as well.

PHOTO: South Africa fans react during their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone in Attridgeville, outside Pretoria June 21, 2008. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko