Confederations Cup final: Brazil vs. United States
The Americans get little time to celebrate that historic Confederations Cup semifinal win over Spain on Wednesday, because equally powerful Brazil waits in Sunday’s final – the same Brazil that beat the U.S. 3-0 already in this tournament, scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes. The Americans didn’t even get a shot on goal in the first half of that match.
‘We gave them too much respect,’ U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra said. ‘We needed to change something. Against Egypt, we had a lot of energy. We were going at them. We want to impose ourselves on them rather than sit back. We can’t sit back.’
Bocanegra missed that first Brazil game with a hamstring injury.
Of course, the U.S. stopped Spain’s record 15-match winning streak and 35-match unbeaten streak with that stunning 2-0 victory. It was just the Americans’ second win ever against a team ranked No. 1 in the world.
But if you ask most true soccer fans, they would say Brazil is really the world’s superpower. The Brazilians got to the final with a 1-0 win over host South Africa on Thursday but didn’t look all that great in the victory. The Brazilians hadn’t been held to a single goal in six matches, since a 1-1 draw at Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier in March.
Brazil is unbeaten in 13 games and hasn’t allowed a goal in 10 of those. It is a big favorite on WagerWeb.com for Sunday’s match (but then so was Spain). Coach Carlos Dunga, however, says his club is tired after playing six tough matches in 19 days. He says the Americans will no doubt prove much different than the first match, when Team USA had to relinquish its defensive tactics after conceding an early goal.
‘It was different because of the goal in the beginning of the match,” Dunga said. “They had to attack more, normally they don’t do that.”
The Americans won’t have midfielder Michael Bradley, son of coach Bob Bradley, on Sunday. He was sent off late in the win over Spain with a red card and must sit out the next match.
A victory Sunday will make Brazil the first team to win three Confederations Cup titles, one more than France. Brazil can also join France as the only team to win back-to-back titles in the eight-team competition.
The previous time that Brazil and the U.S. faced off prior to this tournament was a 2007 exhibition in which the Brazilians won 4-2.
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