Since their existence, the Italian national team has always worn "Azzurro", the shade of blue that is known in the English-speaking world as "Azure Blue". The color comes from the Royal family of Savoia, and all of Italy's national sports team wear it to this day. That's where the national team got their nickname, "Gli Azzurri".

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Brazil, Italy, Egypt and the United States will square off against one another in Group B of the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa. The tournament is staged every four years as a pre-cursor to the following year's World Cup, and includes the champions from each of the six football confederations, as well as the last World Cup winner and the host nation. Click to continue reading...

Courtesy of U.S. Soccer Communications Center:

U.S. TO PLAY WORLD CHAMPIONS ITALY, BRAZIL AND EGYPT IN GROUP B
OF 2009 FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA

CHICAGO (Nov. 22, 2008) – The United States has been drawn into a powerful Group B along with reigning world champions Italy, five-time World Cup winners Brazil, and reigning African Cup of Nations winners Egypt for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup that will be played from June 14-28, 2009, in South Africa. Click to continue reading...

There was another draw of importance to CONCACAF sides in Johannesburg. Next year's Confederations Cup will have the following two groups:Group ASouth AfricaIraqNew ZealandSpainGroup BItalyBrazilUSAEgyptMy take: This time Bob Bradley's worst fears came true. What incredibly lopsided groups! Group A is a joke, and it will be very difficult for the USA to get out of Group B. Click to continue reading...

Something to read while you dream of what might have been... Cristiano Ronaldo's alternative method for terrorizing fullbacks (Off the Post) What did Marta mean exactly? (WPS Offside) Dimitar Berbatov's injury, in his own words (Dirty Tackle) River and Chacarita fans overcome matchday transport problem (NBC Sports) South Africa scared of empty stadiums at Confederations Cup (Reuters) Could insoles really protect [. Click to continue reading...

Sepp Blatter doesn't feel South Africa are being as enthusiastic as they should be considering they are hosts to next years Confederations cup and the World Cup in 2010. "What I'm missing a little bit here is the identification that next year is already the Confederations Cup," said the head of ... Click to continue reading...

I spent quite a bit of time last night, searching the web for relevant information on Cuauhtemoc Blanco. I fell asleep mid-story and woke up early this morning to finish it, early as in before 5.

So read it!

It's a bit of a tribute to Cuauhtemoc Blanco for SI.com.

The best part of the story I think is the links to various video clips. Click to continue reading...

I see that Garber and the gang over at MLS are finally going act on the continued shambles that is the MLS schedule as it relates to international competition, both club and country. I don't really like the idea of the split schedule, though I see its merits, especially with the Gold and Confederations Cup [. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal announce signing of Mikael Silvestre

Arsenal has today signed French defender Mikael Silvestre on a two year deal having joined the Gunners from Manchester United for an undisclosed fee.

Silvestre (31), an experienced and versatile player, has been with Manchester United since 1999 winning a host of domestic honours including four Premier League titles, one FA Cup winner's medal and a League Cup winner's medal. Click to continue reading...

Last week Sepp Blatter spoke to media regarding the possibilities that South Africa maybe denied its chance to host the 2010 World Cup. Stories abound of stadium construction delays, security fears and transport problems.All real issues considering the host country also hosts the Confederations cup a year before they host the actual world cup. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Sepp Blatter didn't really surprise anybody when he said he had a back-up plan in case South Africa could not host the 2010 World Cup, but when the FIFA president came out and said he had three countries lined up as potential replacements, you couldn't help but wonder if FIFA might be ready to pull the plug on South Africa being the host.

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Pan-Asian television sports broadcaster ESPN-Star Sports (ESS) acquired exclusive TV rights in South Asia for football's 2010 World Cup. The deal includes the rights to over 275 international football matches, including the World Cup, the Confederations Cup, and women's, youth, futsal, and beach soccer FIFA events. Click to continue reading...

As many suspected, FIFA president Sepp Blatter, admitted yesterday that while he still believed in South Africa as the 2010 World Cup host, he does have a "Plan B."

Blatter told Austrian state broadcaster ORF that there were some concerns about infrastructure and security and stated that the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa will be the test run. Click to continue reading...

Sunday was a day full of soccer as Euro 2008 action in the morning gave way to US-Argentina and a smattering of Mexico-Peru. With World Cup qualifying about to start out here, I wondered how the US would look during qualifying both this year and next and then in 2010 leading up to the World Cup.

As I'd just watched Croatia-Austria earlier in the day, I wondered about a possible World Cup group. Click to continue reading...

With both the USA and Iraq qualifying for the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa in 2009, American footballers have already expressed their delight in meeting the Asian Cup champions. "That would be awesome," the LA Galaxy forward Landon Donavan told Grahame L. Jones of the LA Times. "Sport is pretty powerful in the world, I think. From our end, obviously, there wouldn't be any hard feelings Click to continue reading...

So Iraq wins the AFC Asian Cup, with a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia and advances to the Confederations Cup, to be held in June 2009 in South Africa. The US will be there as well, having won the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Want to start a betting pool on the US and Iraq [...] Click to continue reading...