Brazil complete stunning comeback to win final
Brazil saved their best performance for the second-half of the final
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Sunday, 28, Jun 2009 09:28
Brazil came from two goals down to beat the USA 3-2 to win the Confederations Cup in Johannesburg.
USA had led 2-0 at the break after goals from Fulham's Clint Dempsey and midfielder Landon Donavan.
Dunga's men mounted a stunning second-half comeback with Luis Fabiano grabbing a brace before skipper Lucio headed in the winner.
But Bob Bradley's men can walk away with their heads held high after an impressive tournament, which included dumping out European champions Spain.
And they had looked on course for another upset when they scored with their first attack of the game when Jonathan Spector's cross was guided past keeper Julio Cesar by Dempsey on the volley.
Both teams continued to carve out chances with Robinho's low shot blocked by Tim Howard, while Carlos Bocanegra's free header was deflected wide.
The underdogs then doubled their lead with a goal that their opponents would have been proud of. A sweeping move that started in their own half, ended with Donavan firing his left-foot shot into the corner.
Dunga's side were unlucky not to reduce their deficit before the break with Robinho's pile-driver from 15 yards tipped over by Howard, while Fabiano headed over from eight yards out.
But they eventually broke the deadlock in the first minute of the second-half when Fabiano's shot on the turn rifled past Howard to make it 2-1.
That sparked an onslaught from the Samba Boys with Lucio's header parried by Howard, while Kaka's header appeared to have crossed the line but the referee waved play on.
Ricardo Clark created USA's best chance of the half with a long-range effort that was beaten away by Cesar. But the one-way traffic continued with Fabiano's poke towards goal blocked by Howard.
But the striker had the last laugh when he tapped in the rebound to level the scores on 74 minutes after Robinho had hit the bar following Kaka's mazy run.
And they completed the comeback on 84 minutes when Elano's corner was nodded in by centre-back Lucio.
USA came agonisingly close to forcing extra-time when Oguchi Onyewu headed over the bar, but Brazil held on to fire a warning to their rivals ahead of next year's World Cup.