Sandton – Fifa Confederations Cup hosts – South Africa – will officially kickoff the tournament in June 2009 with Asian champions Iraq – a team regarded by many as a ‘closed book’.

The official draw for the Fifa Confederations Cup South Africa 2009 was held on Saturday evening at the Sandton Convention Centre, north of Johannesburg.

Fifa Secretary General Jérôme Valcke conducted the draw in the presence of the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Fifa Confederations Cup Issa Hayatou.

Valcke shared the stage with Miss World contestants Miss Egypt Sanaa Ismail Hamed, Miss United States Mercia Lane Lindell, Miss Italy Claudia Russo, Miss New Zealand Kahurangi Julia Taylor, Miss Brazil Tamara Almeida Silva, Miss Spain Patricia Yurena Rodriguez Alonjo, Miss South Africa Tansey Coetzee and the reigning Miss World Zilin Zhang.

At a post-draw media conference, Bafana Bafana head coach Natalino Santana, told journalists that he was pleased with the draw and that he counted on the support of South Africans and other African countries to rally behind his charges during the Confederations Cup in 2009.

Draw results:

Group A
Republic of South Africa
Iraq
New Zealand
Spain

Group B
United States of America
Italy
Brazil
Egypt

Group Stage matches, times and venues

Sun 14 Jun 2009: Johannesburg 16:00 South Africa vs. Iraq
Sun 14 Jun 2009: Rustenburg 20:30 New Zealand vs. Spain
Mon 15 Jun 2009: Mangaung/Bloemfontein 16:00 Brazil vs. Egypt
Mon 15 Jun 2009: Tshwane/Pretoria 20:30 USA vs. Italy
Wed 17 Jun 2009: Mangaung/Bloemfontein 16:00 Spain vs. Iraq
Wed 17 Jun 2009: Rustenburg 20:30 South Africa vs. New Zealand
Thu 18 Jun 2009:  Tshwane/Pretoria 16:00 USA vs. Brazil
Thu 18 Jun 2009: Johannesburg 20:30 Egypt vs. Italy
Sat 20 Jun 2009:  Johannesburg 20:30 Iraq vs. New Zealand
Sat 20 Jun 2009:  Mangaung/Bloemfontein 20:30 Spain vs. South Africa
Sun 21 Jun 2009: Tshwane/Pretoria 20:30 Italy vs. Brazil
Sun 21 Jun 2009: Rustenburg 20:30 Egypt vs. USA

By Simangaliso Zwane