FIFA Confederations Cup 2005

FIFA Confederations Cup 2005
FIFA Confederations Cup 2005
Number of nations	8th
winner	Brazil (2nd title)
venue	Germany
Opening game	June 15, 2005
Endgame	June 29, 2005
Games	16
Gates	56  (⌀: 3.5 per game)
spectator	603,106  (⌀: 37,694 per game)
Top scorer	Adriano (5 goals)
Best player	Adriano
yellow cards	71  (⌀: 4.44 per game)
Yellow-red cards	1  (⌀: 0.06 per game)
Red cards	2  (⌀: 0.13 per game)

The FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 ( English FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 ) was the fifth edition of this intercontinental football competition for national teams under this name and under the care of FIFA and the seventh overall. It took place in Germany from June 15 to 29 . The competition was considered a dress rehearsal for the 2006 World Cup, which took place in Germany a year later .

Host Germany achieved third place with a 4-3 win in extra time against Mexico and ended the tournament as the team with the most goals scored (15 goals in five games).

The tournament winner was World and South American champions Brazil, which defeated Argentina in the final.

Venues

The games were played in Hanover, Leipzig, Cologne, Frankfurt am Main and Nuremberg. Kaiserslautern , which was originally intended to be the venue, withdrew its application in May 2004.

Hanover	Hanover Leipzig Cologne Nuremberg Frankfurt am Main Venues 2005 in Germany	Leipzig
FIFA Stadium Hanover		Central Stadium
Capacity: 44,700		Capacity: 44,400
Cologne	Frankfurt am Main	Nuremberg
FIFA Stadium Cologne	Forest stadium	Frankenstadion
Capacity: 40,600	Capacity: 43,400	Capacity: 42,200

Hanover The FIFA Stadium Hanover , home of the Hanover 96 football club , has 44,652 covered seats for international matches. The former stadium was rebuilt by the city and country for the upcoming world tournaments while the game was running for 63 million euros and was inaugurated on January 23, 2005 after the winter break on the first Bundesliga matchday. Outside of the FIFA events, the stadium was called Niedersachsenstadion, and on a temporary basis for home games of the Bundesliga club Hannover 96 at that time (2012) AWD-Arena. The Hanover-based financial services provider Allgemeine Wirtschaftsdienst (AWD) acquired the naming rights for these games in mid-2002 for two million euros per season . Two group matches took place at the FIFA Stadium in Hanover and the semi-finals between Argentina and Mexico on June 26th (6pm).

Leipzig The central stadium in which FC Sachsen Leipzig usually played; today RB Leipzig , was the only arena in an East German city for the Confederations Cup. In the old stadium, once the largest stadium in Germany with 100,000 seats, a modern football arena was built for 90.6 million euros, of which the federal government contributed 51 million euros. The two preliminary round matches between Brazil and Greece and Australia and Tunisia took place in the 44,345-seat stadium. The game for third place was also played in the World Cup city of Leipzig.

Cologne In FIFA Stadium Cologne , home of the 1. FC Köln , also World Cup games have taken place. The city of Cologne paid 25.7 million euros, the rest was financed by Kölner Sportstätten GmbH (owner and operator). Unless there are matches organized by FIFA, the new stadium is named after the regional electricity supplier RheinEnergie . The stadium offered 40,590 seats during the Confederation Cup. The games Argentina against Tunisia, Germany against Tunisia and Brazil against Japan from the preliminary round took place here.

Frankfurt am Main In the new Waldstadion , home of the Eintracht Frankfurt soccer club , there were 43,324 seats for the Confed Cup. The new football arena with a lockable roof was built from June 2002 to May 2005 on the site of the old forest stadium and has a capacity of 48,000 for international games. The costs amounted to almost 126 million euros, plus around 45 million euros for the expansion of the stadium periphery and the access routes. On July 1, 2005, after the Confederations Cup, the stadium was renamed the Commerzbank-Arena . During the 2006 World Cup , the name Commerzbank-Arena was not approved because of the exclusive FIFA sponsors, so it was temporarily called the FIFA World Cup Stadium Frankfurt am Main during the 2006 World Cup . The final, the 20-minute opening ceremony on June 15, 2005, the opening game between Germany and Australia and two group games of the Confederation Cup took place in the Main metropolis.

Nuremberg In what was then the Frankenstadion , the home of 1. FC Nuremberg , which was renovated for 56.2 million euros, a maximum of 42,187 spectators could watch the games during the Confederation Cup and the World Cup. The preliminary round matches Australia against Argentina and Germany against Argentina could be watched in the Franconian metropolis. The semi-finals between Germany and Brazil took place in the Frankenstadion on June 25, 2005.

Attendees

Map of the participating nations

•  Germany as host,
•  Brazil as world champion 2002 ,
•  Greece as winners of UEFA EURO 2004 ,
•  Tunisia as the winner of the African Cup of Nations 2004 ,
•  Japan won the 2004 AFC Asian Cup ,
•  Argentina finished second in the Copa América 2004 (winners Brazil had already qualified as world champions),
•  Mexico as the winner of the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2003 and
•  Australia won the 2004 Oceania Cup .

At the group draw on November 1, 2004 in Frankfurt am Main, the German figure skater Katarina Witt determined the following groups:

The roster of participants

Group A	Group B
Germany	Brazil
Australia	Greece
Argentina	Japan
Tunisia	Mexico

Not all participating teams started with their best line-up. For example, some Brazilian regular players were not in the Brazilian line-up for the 2005 Confederation Cup. The well-known soccer players Cafu and Roberto Carlos were granted a regeneration phase. The Brazilian national coach Carlos Alberto Parreira called the three-time world footballer Ronaldo into his squad, but he decided not to participate. The Brazilian also called five players from the Bundesliga for the competition : Lúcio and Zé Roberto from FC Bayern Munich , Juan and Roque Júnior ( Bayer 04 Leverkusen ) and Gilberto da Silva Melo from Hertha BSC .

Despite all this, there were high expectations, especially in Germany due to the host role. The competition was seen as a sporting dress rehearsal and as a determination of the position of the German national soccer team , which, as the host of the World Cup, did not play any qualifying matches and therefore could not compete. Jürgen Klinsmann's team was runner-up and hosted as one of the favorites in the Confederations Cup. Klinsmann's declared goal was to win the tournament, even if the German soccer team had been waiting for a victory against one of the so-called big soccer nations for five years (1-0 against England). The hopes of the German fans rested primarily on young players such as Lukas Podolski , Bastian Schweinsteiger and Per Mertesacker as well as the experienced players Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn . Both Miroslav Klose , Dietmar Hamann and Christian Schulz had to cancel at the beginning of June due to injuries (see German squad ).

As with the Brazilians, the group opponents of the Germans were missing some prominent players in Argentina : Hernán Crespo and Roberto Ayala , Kily González , Lucho González , Javier Mascherano and goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri . Argentina national coach José Pékerman had nominated Martín Demichelis from FC Bayern Munich and Diego Placente from Bayer 04 Leverkusen from the Bundesliga .

Tournament mode

In the group stage, four teams each competed in two groups (A and B) in the championship system. H. each team played once against each other team in the group. In the group stage, a win counted three, a draw one point, and a defeat counted no points. In the table of the respective group, the points were added. In the event of a tie between two teams, the table position and advancement were decided in the following order: the goal difference and the higher number of goals scored from all group matches, the direct encounters between the teams concerned (higher number of points, goal difference, goals scored), and ultimately fair play -List (resulting from the lower number of yellow and red cards) or the lot. The regulations thus differed slightly from those for qualifying for the 2006 World Cup : In the event of a tie, it was not the goal difference and the more goals scored in all group games that were decisive, but the direct encounters between the teams with the same points. In order to create the same conditions for all teams, the last two games of a group were played at the same time. The first and second in each group made it to the semi-finals.

In the semifinals, in the game for third place and in the final, the knockout system was used . If the games in the final round were tied after the regular playing time of 90 minutes, there was an extension of 15 minutes twice and possibly (if there is still no winner) a penalty shoot-out . The Golden Goal and the Silver Goal no longer existed in the 2005 Confederations Cup. It was abolished by FIFA after the last competition in 2003 .

Rule change A new football rule adopted by the International Football Association Board of the World Football Association FIFA in February 2005 was first applied to the 2005 Confederations Cup and caused discussion and confusion. The offside rule was specified to the effect that the offside position of a player is only punishable by the referee as a "criminal offside" if he has touched the ball or obstructs his opponent - otherwise it is "passive offside" . The advantage of this interpretation of the rules should be that the effective playing time is increased, as there are fewer interruptions to the game due to offside. A disadvantage of this interpretation of the rules was that a player is left in the dark about a possible offside position until he touches the ball - which may only be the case after a long sprint. For this reason in particular, this interpretation of the offside rule was further refined after the end of the tournament.

Game suspension After the second yellow card or after a yellow-red card in the tournament, a player had to suspend the next game of his team. A red card was followed by at least one game suspension, but the FIFA Disciplinary Committee was able to decide on a higher sentence. Doping controls for four drawn players from each team took place after the game. Two were checked, the other two stood by in case of injuries. The draw was made among all players in the 23-man squad.

Preliminary round

Group A

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Germany	3	2	1	0	009: 500	+4	07th
2.	Argentina	3	2	1	0	008: 500	+3	07th
3.	Tunisia	3	1	0	2	003: 500	−2	03
4th	Australia	3	0	0	3	005:100	−5	00

June 15 at 6 p.m. in Cologne
Argentina	-	Tunisia	2: 1 (1: 0)
June 15 at 9:00 p.m. in Frankfurt
Germany	-	Australia	4: 3 (2: 2)
June 18 at 6 p.m. in Cologne
Tunisia	-	Germany	0: 3 (0: 0)
June 18 at 8:45 p.m. in Nuremberg
Australia	-	Argentina	2: 4 (0: 2)
June 21 at 8:45 p.m. in Leipzig
Australia	-	Tunisia	0: 2 (0: 1)
June 21 at 8:45 p.m. in Nuremberg
Argentina	-	Germany	2: 2 (1: 1)

Germany won the first game with many goals. The team of Jurgen Klinsmann revealed great uncertainty on the defensive, which was occupied with young defenders. In the second game the defense was better, but the team had problems in the first half against the compact Tunisians, only in the last twenty minutes came the turning point with Michael Ballack's penalty and Germany qualified early for the semi-finals. With a 2-2 draw against Argentina, in which a number of regular players were spared, Germany won the group and was formally the best preliminary round team of the tournament with seven points and a goal difference of nine to five goals.
Argentina narrowly beat outsiders Tunisia in their first game. In the game, coach José Pékerman also tested a number of young international players with little experience. In the second game things went even better for the second in the South American Championship, so that the team qualified for the semifinals early after beating Australia 4-2. With a 2-2 draw against the hosts, the technically strong national team finished second in the group A.
Tunisia played well under Roger Lemerre for long periods, but the African champions narrowly lost their first game. The second game was clearly lost against Germany. The Tunisians played well up to the 70th minute and worked out a few opportunities that they did not use. After the 0: 1 the resistance collapsed and they let the German national players add two more goals. Tunisia was able to bid farewell to the Confederations Cup after two defeats with a win against Australia.
Australia narrowly lost their first game to the hosts. The Oceania champions were the better team in terms of play for long stretches, but coach Frank Farina's team had great difficulties in defense. After further defeats against Argentina and Tunisia, the team went home with zero points from the three games. One of the bright spots with the Australians was striker John Aloisi with four goals.

Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Mexico	3	2	1	0	003: 100	+2	07th
2.	Brazil	3	1	1	1	005: 300	+2	04th
3.	Japan	3	1	1	1	004: 400	± 0	04th
4th	Greece	3	0	1	2	000: 400	−4	01

June 16 at 6:00 p.m. in Hanover
Japan	-	Mexico	1: 2 (1: 1)
June 16 at 8:45 p.m. in Leipzig
Brazil	-	Greece	3: 0 (1: 0)
June 19 at 6:00 p.m. in Frankfurt
Greece	-	Japan	0: 1 (0: 0)
June 19 at 8:45 p.m. in Hanover
Mexico	-	Brazil	1: 0 (0: 0)
June 22nd at 8:45 p.m. in Frankfurt
Greece	-	Mexico	0-0
June 22nd at 8:45 p.m. in Cologne
Japan	-	Brazil	2: 2 (1: 2)

Fans of Brazil at the 2005 Confederations Cup

Mexico narrowly prevailed after a 1-0 deficit against Japan. The surprise, however, was Mexico's 1-0 victory over record world champions Brazil. The FIFA world rankings sixth and North and Central American champions Mexico remained unbeaten in their 20th game in a row. In the final game against Greece, the Central Americans achieved a 0-0 draw and progressed as group winners. As the reigning world champion,
Brazil clearly won the game against the European champions and coach Carlos Alberto Parreira was able to replace some top performers early on. Although the stars Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Cafu were on vacation, the South American team, which started with four Bundesliga players , won confidently. In the second game the expectations were high, but the world champions lost 1-0 to Mexico. The South Americans could not convince in the third game against Japan either. Nevertheless, Brazil reached the semi-finals against Germany with a 2-2 draw against the Asian champions as second in the table.
Japan lost 2-1 to Mexico. The team, which was trained by the former Brazilian midfielder Zico , could not yet convince in the first game. With a win for the Asian champions in their second game against Greece, Japan retained their chance of the semi-finals. Against the world champions Brazil, the Japanese achieved a little unfortunate - one goal was withdrawn because of alleged offside - only a 2: 2 and were eliminated from the tournament.
Greece was clearly inferior to the five-time world champions in the first game in the sold-out central stadium . Since the team also lost the second game, it was already clear before the last group game that Greece would have to travel home. Also in the third game against Mexico it was only enough to draw 0-0. The team with the German coach Otto Rehhagel could at no point match the performance of the Euro 2004 .

Final round

Semifinals

June 25 at 6:00 p.m. in Nuremberg
Germany	-	Brazil	2: 3 (2: 2)

The world champion Brazil won against the runner-up world champion Germany with 3-2 goals in the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg in front of 42,187 spectators. The hosts were able to equalize the lead of the South Americans twice. This was the second time that Germany lost under national coach Jürgen Klinsmann in his eleven-month tenure. Compared to the last group game against Argentina (2: 2) Michael Ballack , Lukas Podolski and Arne Friedrich were there again. There were also some changes at Brazil, for example Dida played in goal again, Roque Júnior played for Juan in defense. Gilberto da Silva Melo from Hertha BSC played as did Emerson . The Brazil national team took the lead three times through Adriano (0-1 and 2-3) and Ronaldinho and eventually won the game against the hosts. With the interim 1: 1 by the young star Podolski from 1. FC Köln and the 2: 2 equalization by the penalty from Ballack, hope germinated with the Germans, after five years (then 1: 0 against England) again against a “big one “To win in world football. The class of Adriano, who later became the best player of the tournament, ultimately triumphed over the young defenders of the Germans. Brazil were technically superior, but the Germans also had many scoring opportunities. In the end, the host of the tournament had to come to terms with the "small final".

June 26th at 6:00 p.m. in Hanover
Mexico	-	Argentina	1: 1 n.V. (0: 0, 0: 0), 5: 6 i. E.

The 43,667 visitors to the sold-out FIFA Stadium in Hanover saw an exciting match between Argentina and Mexico that was only decided on penalties. The game between the two teams was fierce and there were many fouls. The favorite Argentina had some difficulties with the compact Mexicans in the first half. However, they could not convert their slight field superiority to penalty area scenes or even goals.

The two-time world champions Argentina got stronger in the second half and attacked the Mexicans already in midfield. Both lines of defense made hardly any mistakes, so that the offensives of both teams were not crowned with success. Shortly before the end of the 90 minutes, Javier Saviola , who came up against Pineda, received the red card . After extra time, both teams had to make do with ten players, as a Mexican ( Rafael Márquez ) was also sent off, this time with yellow-red .

The goals fell in extra time: Mexico took the lead through Carlos Salcido in the 104th minute. Then Argentina forced the goal in the 110th minute through Luciano Figueroa , who had failed at the post shortly before. The decision was made on penalties. After all five players had scored, the Argentine goalkeeper Germán Lux held the ball that Ricardo Osorio had shot. In addition to Brazil the day before, the second big favorite had qualified for the tournament victory for the final.

3rd place match

Cup of third-placed Germany

June 29th at 5:45 p.m. in Leipzig
Germany	-	Mexico	4: 3 n.V. (3: 3, 2: 1)

The “small final” in the central stadium in Leipzig , which was sold out with 42,000 spectators , developed into a football game that thrived on goals and tension. The hosts Germany took the lead four times and eventually defeated the Mexicans. After Mike Hanke was given a red card , Germany played outnumbered for 70 minutes.

In the first half, the eight minutes before the break were particularly dramatic. After Lukas Podolski scored 1-0 , Fonseca equalized. 60 seconds later, Germany took the lead after a combination between Hinkel and Podolski through Bastian Schweinsteiger . In the second half the game was balanced at the beginning until Mike Hanke was sent off in the 54th minute for gross foul play. The Mexicans took over the game and Jared Borgetti headed a cross from Pérez past Oliver Kahn into the goal. Robert Huth , who was heavily criticized after defensive errors in the opening game, shot the Germans leading again. For a long time it was noticed that Germany had one player less on the field, and Mexico, then sixth in the FIFA world rankings , was now gaining advantages. The result was the 3: 3 in the 85th minute by Borgetti , who scored his second goal in the game and his third tournament goal overall - there was now overtime . Michael Ballack circled a direct free kick over the wall three minutes after the extension whistle. The 4: 3 was able to defend the German team, which continued to play for over 70 minutes despite being outnumbered, until the final whistle. Even if the Mexican equalizer again revealed the defensive weaknesses of the Germans, the team of coach Jürgen Klinsmann showed offensive football over long stretches. The Germans finished the tournament in third place behind the tournament favorites Brazil and Argentina.

final

June 29th at 8:45 p.m. in Frankfurt
Brazil	-	Argentina	4: 1 (2: 0)

In the final of the Confederations Cup 2005 between Brazil and Argentina, it was not just about winning the mini-World Cup, but above all Brazil wanted to forget a 3-1 defeat in the World Cup qualifying against the neighboring country, which was just three Weeks ago.

Brazil had the better start: in the 11th minute, Brazilian striker Adriano sank a pass from Cicinho into the goal. Only a few minutes later, the Brazilians made it 2-0 with a goal from Kaká (15th minute). Even though Argentina had a few shooting opportunities in the following minutes, Brazil successfully defended their lead until half-time.

Just a few minutes after the break, Ronaldinho volleyed into the goal (47th minute) after assisting Cicinho. There were now many chances on both sides: Robinho hit the crossbar, Luciano Figueroa almost headed an own goal. Although the Argentine team got better into the game, Adriano hit the other side after a Cicinho cross in the 63rd minute to make it 4-0. Shortly afterwards, Pablo Aimar headed the only Argentinian goal to make it 4-1. Adriano, Lúcio and Renato missed further opportunities for Brazil .

List of goalscorers

rank player Gates 1  Adriano 5 2  Luciano Figueroa 4th  John Aloisi 4th  Michael Ballack 4th 5  Juan Riquelme 3  Ronaldinho 3  Lukas Podolski 3  Jared Borgetti 3 9  Robinho 2  Kevin Kuranyi 2  Bastian Schweinsteiger 2  Masashi Ōguro 2  Francisco Fonseca 2  Santos 2 15th  Pablo Aimar 1

rank player Gates 15th  Esteban Cambiasso 1  Javier Saviola 1  Josip Skoko 1  Kaká 1  Juninho 1  Gerald Asamoah 1  Mike Hanke 1  Robert Huth 1  Per Mertesacker 1  Shunsuke Nakamura 1  Atsushi Yanagisawa 1  Carlos Salcido 1  Zinha 1  Haykel Gmamdia 1

→ Main article : List of FIFA Confederations Cup Top Scorers

Awards

Golden ball

The “Golden Ball” for the best player of the tournament went to the Brazilian Adriano . The “Silver Ball” went to the Argentine Juan Román Riquelme and the “Bronze Ball” with Ronaldinho also went to a Brazilian.

Golden Shoe The “Golden Shoe” for the best goalscorer also went to Brazilian Adriano for his five tournament goals . The “Silver Shoe” went to the captain of the German team Michael Ballack and the “Bronze Shoe” to the Australian John Aloisi . Since both had scored four goals each with the Argentine Luciano Figueroa , the assists and then the fewer minutes played decided the ranking.

FIFA Fair Play Trophy The Greek national soccer team received the fair play award for correct sporting behavior on and off the pitch .

Conclusion

A year before the 2006 World Cup, Germany proved to be very well organized hosts. In order to improve the situation for the World Cup, traffic problems and an unclear information policy on ticket sales were noticed.

Sporty rating

From a sporting point of view, the tournament was a high point between the continental championships (such as the European championships or African championships ) in the previous year and the 2006 world championships, and over long stretches it was of a high level. Most teams did not retreat to their own half of the game as they did in earlier tournaments, but tried to play attractive, risky offensive football from the start of the game. Many goals were scored because most of the teams concentrated more on the offensive game than on the defensive work. The great contrasts between high offensive qualities and poor defensive performance led to high game results. When 4: 3 of the Germans in the opening match against Australia and the "small final" (also . 4: 3 aet ) between Germany and Mexico were the most goals of the tournament. Never before have there been more goals in a Confederations Cup. The eight countries scored 56 goals in 16 games, that is 3.5 goals per game. The tournaments in previous years were significantly less: 36 goals were scored in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in France (2.25 per game) and only 31 goals (1.93 per game) in 2001 in Japan and South Korea.

The winners

The two tournament favorites before the start of the Confederations Cup, Brazil and Argentina , met again in the final. Both teams were able to convince tactically and technically over long distances in the tournament. The host Germany, who started the race with the aim of winning the tournament, won the “small final” against Mexico and thus achieved third place. The FIFA world number one Brazil (829 points) not only clearly won the last game against the world number three (785 points). Brazil showed offensive football and spectacular goals in their first game against European champions Greece. In the semifinals in the 3-2 (2-2) against Germany, the individual class of an Adriano or a Ronaldinho flashed again and again. Technically and combatively, the Brazilians played a convincing tournament, even if they had to contend with problems in two games (against Mexico and Japan) in the preliminary round. Five players from Brazil from all parts of the team (except for the goalkeeper) can be found in the "team of the tournament".

The host Germany delivered an overall positive performance. The youngest team in the tournament (average age 24.4 years) played enthusiastically and enthusiastically. The Germans confirmed the trend in this tournament: offensively strong, defensively weak. In the games, especially captain Michael Ballack was the outstanding man. His sure-footed penalties and his free kick against Mexico were decisive. From a German point of view, the offensive with the young national players like Bastian Schweinsteiger , who was elected to the team of the tournament, or the 20-year-old Lukas Podolski , who scored three times, made hope for the soccer World Cup 2006 . The national team around national coach Jürgen Klinsmann had problems especially in the defense area .

Japan played a good tournament, even if the Asians had to say goodbye in the preliminary round. They brought the record world champions Brazil to the brink of defeat ( 2: 2 (1: 2) ) and only had to return home because of the poorer goal difference compared to the reigning world champions.

The losers

But some teams also disappointed. European champions Greece could not implement the defensive tactics that were successful in the 2004 European Football Championship to the same extent during the three games played. The team of the German national coach Otto Rehhagel had to go home goalless and bottom of the table. The Australians also did badly in the Confederations Cup. All games were lost and the team conceded ten goals in three games. The Oceania champions had great difficulties in defense and on the offensive John Aloisi alone was able to convince, who scored four of the five goals of the Australians. The team's coach, Frank Farina , surprisingly resigned the day after the departure after six years. Even the Tunisians could not convince with their limited resources. There was a lack of the will to fight and the willingness to take risks. After a good half, the game against Germany was lost 3-0 (0-0) .

Doping affair

The two Mexicans Salvador Carmona and Aarón Galindo were suspended by the Mexican Association after the preliminary round for doping and were struck off the list of players before the semi-finals. According to an internal sample from the association, the A and B samples tested positive for nandrolone . At first it was said that the players had been sent home due to a disciplinary offense. The world football association FIFA did not want to punish the entire team, although both were used in the preliminary round matches. The players were individually suspended with a penalty of twelve months.

Semi-finals Argentina versus Mexico

After the Argentine defender Fabricio Coloccini inflicted a bleeding laceration on the left eye of the Mexican player Ramón Morales through a body check in the 69th minute of the semi-final match between Argentina and Mexico ( 5-6 on penalties ), the Mexican had to be replaced. Since the Italian soccer referee Roberto Rosetti punished this not with a red, but only with a yellow card, the Mexican coach Ricardo La Volpe felt his team was disadvantaged and suspected financial reasons for this decision.

spectator

Overall, the audience was interested in the Confederations Cup, and some games were sold out after the first sales phase. Only about 25,000 tickets for the more expensive categories and less attractive games remained. By the beginning of May 2005, 430,000 of the 650,000 tickets had been sold; two days before the start of the tournament, 500,000 tickets had been sold. The stadium utilization was 85 percent. An average of 37,500 spectators followed the games. So a total of just over 600,000 spectators came to the 16 games. The cheapest tickets were from 18 euros (reduced), a final ticket cost 99 euros and an average of 42 euros had to be paid for a ticket.

For the Confederations Cup 2005, RFID chips were stored in the tickets for the first time . At the entrance to the Frankfurt Waldstadion, which served as a World Cup test stadium, the access information was checked by the integrated chip card . As the organizing committee announced, the use of this new technology did not cause any difficulties. In addition, no one was authorized to resell or pass on a ticket assigned to them.

Security and stages

The police drew an overall positive balance after the tournament. Fewer criminal offenses were registered than at the football Bundesliga weekends. 56 registered crimes in the 16 games were fraud or theft. There were no riots by hooligans during the tournament. With regard to these problematic football fans, the Confederations Cup was not viewed as a test run due to the participating teams, as the hooligans from England or the Netherlands, for example, are not expected until the World Cup. The only thing that was noticeable was a high number of so-called speedsters, individual spectators who illegally ran onto the field during the games in order to stage themselves there and mostly run to the goal and let themselves fall into the net.

The newly built or converted stadiums in Cologne, Nuremberg, Hanover, Leipzig and Frankfurt, the technology and safety precautions, as well as the infrastructure of the venues were tested again under international conditions before the major World Cup event. The newly established National Information and Cooperation Center (NICC) began taking security measures in the capital Berlin . On the one hand, it coordinated the work of the security authorities between the Federal Government and the Länder; on the other hand, it worked together with Interpol , Eurojust and Europol . The police authorities tested the emergency and deployment plans for the World Cup at the Mini World Cup (this is how the Confederations Cup is often referred to in the German media). Disaster control exercises and emergency hospitals were tested in the immediate vicinity of the World Cup venues.

Before the opening game in Frankfurt's Waldstadion, hundreds of football fans from many different clubs demonstrated against the announced police measures and the commercialization of the tournament under the motto "Football fans on the sidelines". The fans moved from the Waldstadion to the main train station and thus almost completely paralyzed public transport to the stadium for a long period of time.

reporting

All 16 matches of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 were broadcast in all participating countries. According to the television rights agency Infront , the tournament was broadcast live to over 170 countries under the direction of ARD , ZDF and Premiere . This was a new record for the Confederations Cup, the tournament two years earlier in France was only seen in 90 countries around the world. Over 3000 media representatives from all over the world reported from Germany about the Confederations Cup.

In Germany, ZDF showed the group matches on June 16, 18 and 22, as well as both semi-finals. The first broadcast the other group matches and the game for third place and the final. For the first time, Jürgen Klopp , then the coach of 1. FSV Mainz 05 , the former soccer referee Urs Meier from Switzerland and the World Cup organizer Franz Beckenbauer analyzed the second German television . The duo Günter Netzer and Gerhard Delling as well as Monica Lierhaus and Waldemar Hartmann could be seen on ARD . The first German television showed live the press conferences of the German national team in the afternoon. Over 250 employees worked on the production of the football matches at the Premiere station. Marcel Reif and Fritz von Thurn und Taxis in particular commented on the games. Former FC Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld analyzed the games with German participation as well as the final round on the pay TV channel. The games at Premiere could be seen from several camera perspectives, both in 4: 3 and 16: 9 format.

The first opening match between Germany and Australia saw an average of 11.1 million viewers (38.4 percent market share) in front of the television screens in Germany. In Germany, the director of the WDR , Fritz Pleitgen , criticized the late kick-off time (8:45 pm and 9:00 pm). In Germany, the lifestyle of the citizens is different than in Spain or Latin America and the children should also be able to take part in top events. The semi-final match between Germany and Brazil was the game with the most viewers on German television: an average of 13.09 million viewers (44.5 percent market share) watched the broadcast of this game. The highest market share was achieved with the "small final": 12.0 million viewers (51.6 percent market share) saw the game. The finals between Brazil and Argentina were watched by 10.25 million people (36.8 percent market share) at prime time.

About 30 editors and technicians from FIFA and Yahoo in Frankfurt worked on the official website FIFAworldcup.com for online coverage of the Confederations Cup .

Sponsors

For the sponsors of the world football association FIFA, the Confederations Cup was also a test run before the world presentation in 2006. The exclusive partners of FIFA, who each paid 45 million euros for sponsorship during the World Cup and the Confederations Cup, were the only ones allowed in the stadiums as well appear outside and advertise. FIFA's official partners for the Confederations Cup included the brewer Anheuser-Busch , who had secured the exclusive rights to serve beer in the stadium for 40 million euros from FIFA, and fourteen other well-known international companies: Adidas , Avaya , Coca-Cola , Continental , Deutsche Telekom , Emirates as well as Fujifilm , Gillette , Hyundai , Mastercard and McDonald’s , Philips , Toshiba and Yahoo . The Confederations Cup was also largely financed by sponsors, almost twice as much money as was raised by ticket sales came from the companies.

Then there were the national sponsors, who contribute over 60 million euros to the Confederations Cup and the World Cup. The German Bahn AG was the mobility and logistics partner of the DFB . Other national sponsors were Postbank , Obi , Hamburg-Mannheimer , EnBW and ODDSET . In contrast to the 15 international sponsoring partners of the world football association FIFA, the national sponsors only advertise their commitment in Germany.

The big advertising show took place during the games. For example, Anheuser Busch , who was elected player of the game by a FIFA committee, was named Player of the Match. The choice of side before the start of each game, the coin escort , was presented by a beverage manufacturer. The balls and parts of the opening ceremony were also sponsored by the FIFA companies and presented over the microphone in the Waldstadion . The commercialization has been criticized by many football fans.

criticism

Some football experts such as the CEO of FC Bayern Munich , Karl-Heinz Rummenigge , or football coach Udo Lattek and prominent players such as the multiple world football player Ronaldo criticize the Confederations Cup and call for it to be abolished. They argue that after the long season in their respective clubs, the European competitions, the games for the national teams, the players hardly have any more time for vacation and regeneration.

The world football association FIFA responded to criticism of the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup mode . With the high summer temperatures and the long season of the players, the teams now competed every three days and not every second day for a preliminary round match. The criticism of the mode of the competition came mainly after the Cameroonian international Marc-Vivien Foé collapsed and died of heart failure during the semi-final match in the Confederations Cup between his country and Colombia on June 26, 2003 .

Sports physicians such as the DFB team doctor Wilfried Kindermann warned that the national players could have difficulties in tackling the next season and the coming World Cup in a rested and well-trained state.

FIFA also changed the Confederations Cup staging cycle from two to four years. Since then, it has only taken place every four years in the country of the World Cup host as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming World Cup. The mode every two years in the football clubs' pre-season preparation had not proven itself.

Web links

Commons : 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Details on the 2005 Confederations Cup on FIFA.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nick Reeves: Mexico's coach raises conspiracy theory. In: The Age. June 28, 2005, accessed February 22, 2009 .