The Confederations Cup promises to be much more than just a technical rehearsal for the World Cup, with Argentina and Brazil among the eight teams preparing for two weeks of pressure-free football in five venues across Germany.
For Germany, the 2006 World Cup hosts, getting the organisational details right will of course be the priority, as Frankfurt, Leipzig, Hanover, Nuremberg and Cologne prepare to stage a total of 16 matches from June 15 to 29.
The competition itself though will be a tough one to win and whoever does emerge as champions will have earned their accolade the hard way.
As well as featuring the German hosts and Brazil, the world champions, it is also a showcase for the talents of the champions of all of FIFA's six confederations plus Argentina, who enter as Olympic champions.
FIFA are billing the event as a "Festival of Champions" and that should sum up the mood of the event. The pressure may be off, but there is still serious work to be done.
GERMAN DUTY
Germany, drawn in Group A with Argentina, Australia and Tunisia, will also have a duty to get things right on the field, with the onus on coach Juergen Klinsmann to show fans that a home triumph next year is possible.
For the rest of the teams there were will be little of the customary fear of failure, while a first prize of 2.28 million euros ($2.78 million), as well as a world stage on which to perform, should provide an incentive.
Japan and Argentina can look forward to a particularly relaxing two weeks after booking places at the World Cup in this week's qualifiers.
Japan, who line up in Group B with Greece, Mexico and Brazil, secured a place in their third consecutive World Cup finals with a 2-0 win over North Korea on Wednesday.
Argentina made certain of their participation with a 3-1 win over world champions Brazil.
Brazil, the only country to have played at all 17 World Cups, are still pretty sure of maintaining their proud record, with only three points needed from their last three games to be mathematically sure of qualifying.
Brazil will arrive in Germany without Ronaldo, who has been excused on grounds of tiredness, but there remains the prospect of seeing World Player of the Year Ronaldinho teaming up with Adriano, Kaka and the heralded Robinho.
HOME GROUND
Greece, the surprise European champions, face a tougher job in qualifying for the World Cup after losing to Ukraine in midweek but their German coach Otto Rehhagel will enjoy being back on home ground.
Australia, who have not qualified for a World Cup since the finals were last in Germany in 1974, will also look to impress at a competition that has been kind to them in the past.
The Oceania representatives reached the 1997 final against Brazil -- albeit in a match they lost 6-0 -- then defeated both France and Brazil to finish third in 2001.
"It is a terrific honour for these players to be selected to play for their country at a major FIFA tournament," said coach Frank Farina.
"It's a tough tournament but it's exactly the type of matches we want to be involved in."
However his team will need to improve greatly on an unimpressive performance in London on Wednesday when they struggled to beat old rivals New Zealand 1-0 in a fiercely-contested friendly.
Every team taking part will have one eye on the World Cup next year though the Confederations Cup will provide plenty of drama of its own.
It will hopefully be completed without a tragedy like the one that overshadowed the competition two years ago when Cameroonian Marc-Vivien Foe collapsed and died on the field during the second half of the semi-final against Colombia.
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