Channel hopper: Gabby and BBC getting worldly wise

Published on Friday 26 June 2009 22:22

Match of the Day Live: Fifa Confederations Cup, BBC Three

IT IS not only the South African World Cup organising committee who are finding the Fifa Confederations Cup to be useful preparation for next year's extravaganza in the Rainbow Nation.

The BBC, increasingly mindful of their need to justify expenses, have been using the tournament as a low key preparation for their coverage of the 2010 World Cup finals.

BBC Three, a channel which rarely features sporting content, has been the location for live coverage of every match in the eight team tournament which will conclude with tomorrow night's final between favourites Brazil and surprise packages USA.

No doubt, the big guns of Gary Lineker, Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson will be rolled out for the main event 12 months for now, but the Match of the Day studio has been held together by a more than able deputy in the shape of Gabby Logan.

As consummate a presenter as any currently operating for BBC Sport, Logan's relaxed professionalism is the perfect foil for the pundits opposite her on the couch.

For Thursday night's second semi-final between South Africa and Brazil, Logan was joined by Lee Dixon and Garth Crooks. Former Arsenal defender Dixon, mainly through his appearances on Match of the Day 2 during the domestic season, has established himself as an insightful contributor with a pleasing knack of making tactical analysis entertaining and uncomplicated.

Crooks, the former Spurs striker, is normally restricted to appearances behind the red button on the BBC's Final Score programme, a poor imitation of Jeff Stelling's peerless Soccer Saturday show on Sky Sports.

It is difficult to watch Crooks now without cringing at the memory of his obsequious interviews with Sven-Goran Eriksson throughout England's campaign in the 2002 World Cup finals. He and Dixon blended well, however, on an evening when the pre-match build-up was largely more captivating that the match itself.

The highlight was Jonathan Pearce's interview with Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the World Cup organising committee. Jordaan spoke movingly of his quest to bring the greatest sporting event on the planet to a country in which he was not able to vote until he was 42 years old.

Just 16 years after the end of apartheid, next year's World Cup final will be played in a stadium just ten minutes from Soweto, where many of Jordaan's friends were killed during the bleak days of racial segregation.

"We will be able to puff out our chests and stand tall among the nations of the world," said Jordaan at the conclusion of the interview.

Back at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Pearce was joined in the commentary box by former Sheffield Wednesday striker Mark Bright. They proved an effective pairing, even if Bright too often displays a mastery of stating the obvious.

As Brazil struggled to break down a resolute South African defence, the night after Spain had suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to the USA in the first semi-final, Pearce and Bright could not resist the spurious observation that the form of the major nations at the tournament made an England triumph at the World Cup finals more likely.

Anxious Brazil coach Dunga, wearing what the fashion-conscious Dixon referred to as a 'geography teacher's jacket' to keep out the relative cold of what is the South African winter, was spared the wrath of his country's unforgiving media when substitute Dani Alves scored the only goal of the game with a brilliant 88th minute free-kick.

It was harsh on the host nation and their crestfallen supporters, but the Bafana Bafana have gained some much needed credibility from their performances in the tournament. None more so than towering, bald headed defender Matthew Booth who both looks and plays like Hibs captain Rob Jones.

The only white player in the South African side, Booth is married to Sonia Bonneventia, one of the country's leading black models. He has become an idol of the South African support, whose throaty chant of 'Boooooth' every time he touches the ball was initially mistaken for boos by some foreign journalists covering the competition.

Booth, in fact, is a symbol of the unity South Africa hope to present to the globa; audience next June when the World Cup finals get underway on the African continent for the first time.

The dress rehearsal has suggested that they may yet confound the sceptics and deliver a successful tournament.