Confederations Cup - Brazil comeback wins Cup

Eurosport - Mon, 29 Jun 14:30:00 2009

A stunning second-half comeback from Brazil gave them a 3-2 victory in the Confederations Cup final against a brave USA side in Johannesburg.

FOOTBALL Brazil Confederations Cup - 0

USA raced into a first-half lead through Clint Dempsey in the 10th minute to stun their more illustrious opponents, and a further shock was to be inflicted at a packed Ellis Park Stadium.

Landon Donavon coolly finished off a swift counter-attack from Charlie Davies in the 27th minute to double his side's lead, and leave Brazil's players and supporters utterly bewildered.

The second half was one-way traffic, as Brazil continued to pour pressure on their opponents with unrelenting waves of attacks, and Dunga's side got their eventual rewards.

A clinical finish from Luis Fabiano in the first minute of the second half gave his side the momentum they needed, and although a Kaka headed goal was wrongly adjudged to have not crossed the line, it did little to stifle their conviction.

Fabiano converted the rebound from Robinho's fierce shot in the 74th minute, which thundered off the crossbar, to prompt a double-defensive change from USA coach Bob Bradley.

As Brazil showered their opponent's box with crosses, it seemed that Fabiano's hat-trick may have been imminent, but it was the gangly defender Lucio who powered a headed winner with six minutes left from Elano's corner.

The match was officially dedicated by FIFA to Marc-Vivien Foe, who tragically died at the 2003 Confederations Cup in France at the semi-final stage playing for Cameroon, with both sets of players involved in the tributes.

Brazil dominated the early possession with Kaka a prominent presence in the side's attacks, and Robinho marauding down the left wing to test Jonathan Spector.

For all their attacking potency, Dunga's side looked hesitant and indecisive at the back, and USA capitalised in the tenth minute.

Spector escaped the shackles of the lightweight Andre Santos and whipped a cross into the penalty area from the right, and Dempsey stole into score his third goal in five appearances with a glancing touch to beat Julio Cesar at his far post.

Two minutes later, a delightful turn from Kaka on halfway released Robinho down the left, and the forward takes his shot early curling it to the far corner, but Tim Howard dived low to his right to tip the ball away.

At the other end, USA forward Charlie Davies bustled down the right wing, and his powerful run was hampered by a challenge from Gilberto, but to his credit the forward stayed on his feet when he could easily have gone down.

USA found themselves firmly under the cosh, but they broke through the pace of Donovan, and he finished with terrific composure to give his side the lead after Davies had slipped the ball through to him in the 27th minute.

Brazil were undeterred in their gung-ho approach, and Robinho released Andre Santos, who instead of cutting the ball back from the by-line attempted a shot from a tight angle, with Howard making a sharp.

Dunga was looking for a reaction in the second half from his underperforming Brazil side, and they responded in emphatic fashion.

Luis Fabiano received a delightful ball from Maicon and the striker swivelled and turned Jay De Merit, before firing past Howard to ignite his side's recovery in the opening minute of the half.

Kaka was then denied an equaliser after he stole in at the back post to meet a cross from Robinho with a downward header, and as Howard parried it away, replays suggested the ball had crossed the line.

Brazil, to their credit, did not let that injustice rattle them, and in the 74th minute Fabiano pounced to level the scores from close range after Robinho saw his initial shot cannon off the crossbar.

Despite USA defending stoutly, with Oguchi Onyewu again superb, Brazil always looked like sealing victory with their momentum unabating.

A deep corner from Elano was met by an imperious leap from centre-back Lucio, who beat Dempsey to the ball and powered the ball home with his head to clinch victory for his side.

Kaka was awarded the Golden Ball accolade for his performances throughout the tournament, with Brazil collecting their third Confederations Cup triumph.

Dan Quarrell / Eurosport

Comment 141 - 160 of 180

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. Well done to FIFA for the tribute and dedication to­ Marc Vivien Foe......RIP big fella.

    From MCFCTrick, on Mon 29 Jun 4:56PM

  2. well, its the end of the road for some team, well the­ big team, i mean look at the Brazil bench. picture this­ WC 1/4 finals brazil needing a goal and who do they­ bring from the bench?? what name 'll you think of.­ Englland should get a grip. lets face it having­ impressive players ok but winning against andorras and­ kaza what? stan? means nothing.spain well somewhat­ overrated good players doesnt mean you invincible. the­ french team is no better(can u seee benzema single­ handedly winnging gamess like zizou?) . holland we live­ to see.italy 'll they be able to buiild a team from­ scratch for next year? the argentines are not playing­ well either leaving Germany the team with most­ underrated players and some other teams usa? african­ team? the world cup will be interesting

    From victorcud, on Mon 29 Jun 4:27PM

  3. Well done..... a Worthy winners of Confe cup 2009....­ Great game by USA... well done you have it &­ you'll get it... I'm not suprised to see­ Brazilian side to comeback in second half & just­ dominate all 45 minutes... A typical Brazilian Attack­ we have seen there... Waves of Attack which cannot stop­ by anyone anymore even Oliver Kahn & his team (Who­ did not conceding single goal in FIFA WC 2002 till­ semifinal) has got two thunders from Brazilian gang.. I­ think with the help of Ronaldo, Adriano. Ronaldinho,­ KAKA, Robinho, Fabiano, Lucio, Cesar & all other...­ they can retain thier 6th FIFA WC next year at same­ ground........... Hurrrey..........

    From Lucky, on Mon 29 Jun 4:26PM

  4. Well done Brazil. You showed again you are the Best no­ matter who you play with! Well done as well to US and­ SA for improving their team and maybe...maybe 1 day­ they will be among the greatest team in the world.

    From Roberto, on Mon 29 Jun 4:19PM

  5. WOW, MANY CONGRATS TO MY COMPATRIOTS; THE USA TEAM WAS­ FANTASTIC RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING AND WHEN THE 1ST­ HALF ENDED, I THOUGHT, WELL THEY MIGHT AS WELL WIN IT­ THEY WERE PLAYING SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE BRAZILIANS.­ GUESS IN THE END IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS SIMPLE­ STATEMENT: THE BEST OF THE TWO TEAMS WON, AND THE US­ COULD EASILY HAVE BEATEN BRAZIL, ONLY IF THEY HAD­ REINFORCED THEIR DEFENSE IN THE SECOND HALF. WELL TOUGH­ LUCK!!!
    BRING ON THE WC2010...

    From ciliamaximo_30, on Mon 29 Jun 3:50PM

  6. KandieBaybee2535 - are you hot or what?

    I also watched­ the game because I thought that this might be one of­ those moments in football where things get changed a­ little. But, evidently, that has already happened;­ according to the commentators, the Americans have­ actually sold 92000 tickets for the World Cup in RSA. ­ THAT is amazing. It really is. My favourite player­ seems to be Brandon Donovan simply because the guy­ never seems to give up at all; even when the ball is­ running out of play he's steaming after it. ­ It's wonderful all this fluidity and verve on the­ ball and a desire to look great and get grumpy when the­ decision goes against you but really there's no­ substitute for all that graft that Donovan displays. ­ Most opponents don't want some player continually­ interfering around them but his range of concentration­ on and off the ball is incredible. He deserves­ everything he gets because he works so bloody hard for­ it. I wish him well.

    From Michael S, on Mon 29 Jun 3:24PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    usa suck

    From FoeyP, on Mon 29 Jun 3:22PM

  8. Without doubt the funniest comment came on the BBC from­ Mark ('I never really achieved much at all')­ Bright when he said (without any sense of humour)­ 'I've looked at all these teams, England have­ nothing to fear'! Is that man for real? He's­ a journeyman northern footballer who played for a 12th­ rate Southern side; he's embarrassingly nervous in­ front of the camera, gets a job with BBC London as a­ reporter (heaven knows why) and then blurts out errant­ nonsense like that. Jettison that buffoon. Simple­ fact is that America can beat England on a performance­ like that and (given the penalty decision which went­ against them) America might well have won this game. ­ It was very close indeed. England are doing well in a­ QUALIFYING group; they should do. They'll not win­ the World Cup.

    From Michael S, on Mon 29 Jun 3:11PM

  9. haha,so many @#$% comment about spain and other big­ teams not what? up for it?b'cos the tourney isnt­ important??? well, they didnt make the grade 'cus­ they 're not good. thats the fact.not about people­ not wanting to play. even Brazil might have considered­ themselve lucky in the semis. the world does not evolve­ around just the few.

    p.s ...south africa who didnt­ qualify for the african cup of nations gave spain and­ brazil a run for their many.....and those of you who­ have already picked their winners for next years­ WC.well, thats very stupid.

    Brazil and some european­ countries are living in past glorious they better wake­ up to face reality

    From victorcud, on Mon 29 Jun 2:59PM

  10. A Great Final from beginning to end. Seriously, that­ was compelling. The USA played with heart and showed­ that a team with less skill can beat Brasil - albeit­ they choked. A questionable world ranking at 14th­ before the ConFed, but I think they earned that spot­ now. One final observation about the USA - they­ don't flop and fall when the wind blows! It's­ nice to see someone stay on there feet! They almost­ became the Greece of 2009...

    From Charles D, on Mon 29 Jun 2:40PM

  11. brasil were a better side they deserved to win

    From M, on Mon 29 Jun 2:29PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I don't really think that USA will be able to show­ the same performance at the World Cup. Both Spain and­ Brazil players came here to practice against teams of­ lower level. Don't think that this Confederation­ Cup is something sooo important. As they say, it was­ created to earn more money for FIFA, so the fact the­ USA somehow (in Italy-a-like fashion) managed to scrape­ 2 victories out of 5 games doesn't mean a thing.

    From Petko G, on Mon 29 Jun 2:00PM

  13. From rumteetum, on Mon 29 Jun 4:28AM
    "Credit where­ it's due the US had a go I'm not­ American, but­ show some class lads. Still think England­ will make­ the semis of the WC."

    "English football fan­ with class", such a thing does not exist!
    ­

    From cheddarcheesemofo, on Mon 29 Jun­ 5:43AM
    "You yanks play footy aswell as you make­ cheese !! But­ Burt Baccarat is class­ !"

    Cheddarcheesemofo, even on Eurosport your­ comment stands out for its stupidity (quite an­ achievement). Let's see, Burt BACHARACH is the­ correct spelling, as I believe that­ "baccarat" is a casino game of some sort. ­ For most posters that would be enough stupidity for one­ comment but not for cheddarcheesemofo, that would be­ setting the bar too low. How could you possibly­ criticize the "yanks" for losing 3-2 to­ Brazil in a cup final and scoring a brilliant goal in­ the process? When was the last time England did­ anything like that? You couldn't even beat a bunch­ of goat herders to qualify for Euro '08. Lastly you­ chose to attack another nation for its food. An­ English person attacking another country's food is­ like an Italian attacking another country for its­ corruption or a Frenchman attacking another country for­ its lack of personal hygiene.

    From Todd B, on Mon 29 Jun 1:26PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    You yanks play footy aswell as you make cheese !! But­ Burt Baccarat is class !

    From cheddarcheesemofo, on Mon 29 Jun 12:43PM

  15. post 142: you are really dumb!

    From First L, on Mon 29 Jun 12:42PM

  16. AT WIL PRABLAY BAY BRESIL, SPEEN, ARGENTENA OND THA­ ANGLASH BOSTURDS AN THA SAMAY FENULS NAXT YEER.

    From Donney, on Mon 29 Jun 12:34PM

  17. Yeah, show some class. I think the European teams are­ going to have a tough time in SA as they typically­ struggle in non-Europe WCs. But I hope England can go­ far, SFs are possible for them. In the end I think­ Brazil will win their 6th WC.

    From Mark V, on Mon 29 Jun 11:53AM

  18. Credit where it's due the US had a go I'm not­ American, but show some class lads. Still think England­ will make the semis of the WC.

    From rumteetum, on Mon 29 Jun 11:28AM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    f**k the usa,they don't play they are just lucky­ ,plus they play like rugby players

    From monacomaville, on Mon 29 Jun 11:13AM

  20. why is it that in competitions of this context,­ expensive players like C7 are missing in action.
    i mean­ when the national sides are being represented.

    From Phobia, on Mon 29 Jun 10:59AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account