Confed Cup should be every four years
It is clear that not many people want the Confederations Cup to take place.
Most of the teams here are under strength, with the exception of Japan and New Zealand, and even the organisers are struggling for inspiration.
Understandably, there is nothing of the passion and emotion of the World Cup,which I attended here in 1998 and thought was incredible.
The teams do not have a big travelling support, even though Turkey had some 12,000 fans to cheer them on fanatically against the United States here on Thursday night.
Turks are everywhere, of course, and absolutely love their football.
Cameroon, too, had a lot of support in the 1-0 victory over Brazil in Paris, but again there are many thousands of Cameroon people living here.
As for Japan, I have seen a few small groups wandering around or getting into France's Cafe Culture. This is a wonderful way to kill a few hours, sitting in the sun on the edge of the town square, drinking mineral water or coffee and eating the local bakery products, notably the flaky but filling morning croissants.
On Friday morning I went into the town centre of St Etienne to change Japanese yen to Euro, and noticed a concert stage set up, with a Japanese and French flag hanging in the windless summer air.
I cannot imagine many Japanese being around, though, when the match is on, as tickets will be easier to buy than in 1998.
On that occasion, thousands of Japanese fans were well and truly relieved of their money by the local French, who had bought match tickets but were only too happy to sell them on at a massive profit.
There is little tournament infrastructure this time, such as food and souvenir kiosks, publicity, special transport, hotel deals, and only the most essential services provided by FIFA.
The whole thing looks like it is being done as cheaply as possible, and as quickly as possible.
All of which makes you wonder why FIFA bother holding it.
I think the Confederations Cup should be held every four years, not two, in the year before the World Cup; just like Korea and Japan in 2001.
It is a perfect tournament to use as a dress rehearsal, not as a competition in its own right.
ends
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