The FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) is tasked with identifying and recording new trends in world football. Holger Osieck will lead a TSG panel at the next week's FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, closely monitoring the six confederation champions in action.

As the teams gear up for the right to be called club world champion, the TSG has established its headquarters in Tokyo and commenced meticulous preparations for the job in hand. TSG experts will conduct informative talks with the head coaches and attend team training sessions, gaining initial insights into tactics and systems even before a ball has been kicked. FC Barcelona and Sport Club Internacional will be most people's favourites for the trophy, but the rest of the field will do their utmost to upset the big names. Speaking ahead of next week's showdown in Japan, Osieck said: "In the recent past, we've seen the world of football moving ever closer together. We're watching outsiders getting results against the established football powers within their confederations, which indicates a levelling out in performance. That has to be good for the game,"

Alongside purely technical and tactical match analyses, TSG members are responsible for selecting the best player at the tournament and recipient of the adidas Golden Ball (and the Toyota Award), together with the winners of the Silver and Bronze balls.

Osieck, assistant coach to the German team which triumphed at the 1990 FIFA World Cup Italy™, and head of the Technical Development department at FIFA since 2004, will be supported in Japan by two world-renowned football experts - Kwok Ka Ming from Hong Kong and Gyorgy Mezey of Hungary - in the task of covering the seven matches at three stadiums.

The  FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG)  has monitored matches and identified the latest trends at international tournaments for approximately 40 years. The decision to form an expert panel to analyse matches at FIFA World Cup finals was taken in 1965. The TSG first performed duties at the 1966 FIFA World Cup England.

TSG experts at the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2006 

Gyorgy Mezey (Hungary)
Mezey spent his playing career in Hungary with Budafok, Spartakus Sport Club Budapest and MTK Budapest between 1954 and 1971. He coached MTK for three years, before leading the Hungarian national team to the 1982 FIFA World Cup Spain and the 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico. He then worked at club and national level in Kuwait. The Hungarian Football Association Technical Director is also a FIFA coaching instructor and member of the UEFA Technical Committee.





 

Kwok Ka Ming (Honkong)
In his roles as Technical Advisor to the Hong Kong Football Association and as a FIFA coaching instructor, Kwok Ka Ming is an established expert in Asian football. The former Hong Kong national coach is also an AFC coaching instructor, and has previously represented the FIFA and UEFA Technical Study Groups at major tournaments.