The Confederations Cup Experience

So the regional champs have departed following the confederations cup. It was a tournament that will probably be remembered most for the rise to prominence of the USA who made it to the final, and though they ended up losing to Brazil they displayed a quality of play and ability to score against highly rated opponents. This will help shed the 'technically inferior' tag they have held for having an easier qualification route to the world cups(than teams in the more competitive European and South American regions) perhaps hinting that they didn't really deserve to participate.

The football which was generally of a very high standard (with the exception of New Zealand perhaps who made it pretty obvious that they were a class below the rest). The hosts, South Africa, were fortunate to qualify for the semi-finals by getting through on goal difference in what was the weaker of the two groups. Bafana Bafana's biggest weakness remains their inability to convert goal scoring opportunities the way their more illustrious opponents can. South Africa don't look likely to progress far in the World cup to be held next year.

What about the tournament organisation? As a direct witness to this (being a spectator at 3 of the matches including the final) I can say that it was generally acceptable though level of organisation did defer by stadium. The efforts of the organisers to improve on the existing methods of parking when attending sports events locally has to be commended. So called 'Park-and-Ride' locations were allocated in the vicinity of the stadiums. A spectator would thus arrive and park his/her car at the designated area and then take a bus ride (free of charge) to the stadium (in Pretoria the bus convoy was actually given a police motorbike escort, enabling the buses to travel to the stadium without having to stop at the traffic lights). After the matches there was expectedly a delay in leaving the parking area due to the large number of cars exiting but on one occasion the cops actually blocked off traffic from other directions to increase flow of the spectators leaving which helped quite a bit.

Kickoff for the matches were either at 4pm or 8:30pm local time. It has to be said that the June-July period is the winter season (this being the Southern Hemisphere) and some of the late matches were extremely cold. At the final in Johannesburg I was seated high up in the stands behind the goal post on what was a rather chilly evening and the gusts of icy wind left me shivering despite having a jacket, scarf and beanie! I was left wishing I had brought a blanket along like some of the spectators sitting around me (will remember that for next year :).

Don't think the organisers could have done much about the weather aside from holding the matches earlier in the day but there are probably issues with TV viewership in timezones behind South Africa (GMT +2) that led to the matches being held when they were.

IPL Gauteng Fixtures

Click on graphic to enlarge. Some of the Wanderers matches are now available for sale!

IPL Season 2

Didn't feel like posting anything in the first quarter of 2009 but can't afford to anymore... There's just too much happening :)

Starting of with the IPL which is now being hosted in South Africa! (Bloody Pakistani terrorists!) ... Should it now be called SAPL??? The answer, no! cause everything is still run by the Indians (aka BCCI) and they're getting all the money! But for those of us based in SA, hooooray... and for those of us based in a city with a match venue an even bigger yippppeeeee...

Anyways... here's the ticket pricing for the various venues... (click on image to enlarge).

TomTom maps in South Africa now have 'Safety Camera indications'

TomTom has now provided the 'safety camera' service for South African roads... What this means is drivers' can be alerted when approaching locations of speed cameras :)

This update is available as a free download till then end of January 2009, New models will come with the service pre-installed and 1 free up date will be available via HOME. Further updates will be available on a subscription basis at a cost of 399 Rand per year.

India 4 - 0 England

Sounds like a football scoreline doesn't it... if only... Its the status of the current ODI cricket series in India between the two countries, and despite the fact the latter 2 of the matches' outcomes were determined by Messrs. Duckworth and Lewis, it has still been a pretty clinical display by the youthful Indian side. Being 4 - 0 up in a 7 match series with the trophy in the bag this team finds itself in a position that not many of its predecessors have been in, able to change the team line up for the next 3 games and give the rest of the squad a chance to shine. I'll probably jinx them with this article and so don't be surprised if England pull one back in the next match. This Indian side has something that was seriously lacking in those of the last decade and a half... depth... and a dynamic captain who's able to put it to good use. Well done boys :)

Group Stage Fixtures - Confederations Cup 2009

Obtained from the official fifa site.

Conferderations Cup Participants

Oh by the way... In case you didn't know these are the teams competing in the Confederations Cup, South Africa 2009

1 - South Africa (Host)
2 - Italy (Reigning World Cup holder)

Regional champs
3 - Brazil
4 - USA
5 - Spain
6 - Iraq
7 - New Zealand
8 - Egypt

How to get tickets for the FIFA Confederations Cup (14 -28 June 2009)

Pre-sales ticket applications are now open to VISA customers! All the dates, venues and ticket pricing have been released. The actual draw, which will determine which teams are pit against each other (and where), will happen in a couple of days on the 22nd of November. Be sure to check where your favourite team(s) (be it Brazil, Italy, Spain, South Africa or one of the others) are playing. So you wanna buy tickets? Here's how...

Step 1 - Register on Fifa.com
Step 2 - Check pricing, dates (times also cause some of the matches are on weekdays) and venues.
Step 3 - Proceed to use your VISA card (which has been enabled for electronic transactions) and apply/purchase for the tickets online.
NOTE: There are discounted tickets for South African Residents (Category 4) and tickets are available on a first come first serve basis naturally :)

Step 2 can be accomplished partially by reading this article and fully by reading the next article which will be posted on November 22 following the draw.

All data below has been obtained from the official FIFA site.

FIXTURES (click on images to enlarge)


TICKET PRICING
Venue Specific


Individual Matches

The ushering out of the previous generation...

Anil Kumble called it quits after the recent test in Delhi. One would have expected him to play out the last test of the series against Australia currently on the go but it appears the injury to his hand he picked up in the last test would hamper his fielding ability [the little he has :D ] and he decided to call it a day. Not a bad effort with 619 test wickets since his tenure begun in 1992. Its Amazing actually... He's India's top wicket taker by far, just to add some perspective he's got more wickets than the combined efforts (to date) of Zaheer Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Agit Agarkar, Ishant Sharma, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag! Aai Gaa Anil Bhai!

Speaking of records, Sachin Tendulkar has eclipsed 12,000 test runs in the series against Australia on the go. Yup, that makes him the highest run getter of all time worldwide and he's also racked up over 40 centuries and 50 fifties in his test career... phenomenal. Sachin's not done :) no sign of retirement for India's most revered son just yet.


Sourav Ganguly who had previously stated that this would be his last series is also stepping down after a long and illustrious career.


The trio above along with Laxman who is playing in his 100th test were honoured for their achievements yesterday.

[Images Courtesy: cricinfo.com]

What happened to the airlines!

The indian aviation sector which was booming just a year or two ago is now in the doldrums. Many domestic airlines have been cancelling/postponing inducting new aircraft orders and there are signs of releasing pilots and crew. The two big rivals, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines are rethinking their routes and international strategies and have even formed an alliance on their ground services to reduce costs. Rising fuel costs are a killer to the airlines especially in India where jet fuel tax is the highest in the world at up to 40%, this is the main reason for the dismal performance in recent times. The resulting ticket price hikes coupled with the global credit crunch have had the effect of declining load factors reported across the aviation industry world wide. Lower revenues and higher operating costs result in reduced profit margins for some... and losses for others.