Johannesburg  - Coaches and officials of the teams that were drawn into Group A of the Confederations Cup on Saturday agreed that they were drawn into a good group.

The hosts South Africa will play Iraq in the opening game in Ellis Park on June 14, 2009, while New Zealand face Euro 2008 champions Spain in the other group game on the same day.

The other group sees world champions Italy take on the defending June 14-28, 2009 Confederations Cup champions Brazil, as well as Egypt and US in the competition that will be played in four venues.

Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque dismissed any speculation that the group would be an easy one. "We have a mixture of styles in our group and I hope that in the end our style will win.

"But I certainly will show all our opponents respect and we will not treat any of the other teams lightly," he said.

The coach of the hosts of the Confederations Cup and the World Cup Joel Santana said that he was embarking on a programme to do well with the South African team.

"I think I have already identified about 80 per cent of the players who will represent Bafana Bafana. I am very glad that we will be getting an opportunity to test the team."

The chairman of the New Zealand football federation Frank Van Hattum said that he was confident that his side would be competitive at the tournament.

"I know we will go into the competition as an underdog, but the beautiful thing in football is that the underdog sometimes wins. It will be about goals and I am sure that we will do well."

Jorvan Vieira, who coaches the Asian champions Iraq, said that he was looking forward to representing the continent. "We must now show that we deserve to be at the Confederations Cup." (dpa)