S. Africa struggles through easy part of Confed Cup

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) - The easy part was hard enough for South Africa, struggling through the group phase of the Confederations Cup against relatively soft opposition. Thursday's semifinal match will be a much sterner test for the hosts.

Unburdened by the fact that Bafana Bafana failed to beat Iraq, a team ranked 77th in the world, and were outclassed by Spain 2-0, there was belief Sunday that the best is yet to come.

"We have shown such an improvement during this tournament that I am not afraid to play any side," South Africa coach Joel Santana said.

Only weeks ago, in the run-up to the Confederations Cup, the Brazilian coach was expected to be fired for his defensive tactics and poor results. But since then, his confidence has grown.

From a wide-open Group B, South Africa could still play Brazil, world champion Italy or African champion Egypt in the semifinals.

"The bigger the better as we need the experience to keep building the side for the 2010 World Cup," Santana said.

Spain won Group A with nine points, and South Africa was second with four. Iraq finished with two points while New Zealand had one. Had Iraq beaten New Zealand by two goals, South Africa would have been eliminated. Instead, the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

Qualification was the only imperative for Santana and South Africa, something necessary to build momentum within the team and throughout the nation ahead of next year's World Cup.

After an depressing 0-0 draw against Iraq in the tournament opener, that had looked unlikely. Bafana Bafana's only positive result came against New Zealand, when the team thrilled the crowd with sparkling play to win 2-0. New Zealand, though, is ranked 82nd in the world.

There, too, Santana is looking on the bright side.

"We beat them 2-0 but could have scored six while Iraq were totally negative," the Brazilian coach said. "The fact that neither Iraq nor New Zealand scored a goal in the tournament speaks for itself."

However, South Africa only scored two goals in three games, and against Iraq and Spain the lineup was overly defensive-minded.

It is unlikely Santana's setup will change for a semifinal match where the host nation is expected to be an overwhelming underdog. His only worry is the suspension of defensive midfielder Macbeth Sibaya, who earned a second yellow card against Spain and will miss Thursday's match.