When is a big lead not enough? When you play Brazil

The final of Confederations Cup, generally relegated to just a dress rehearsal for the host country for the following year’s World Cup, turned out to be an improbable matchup involving a USA squad that not only got out of their Group in the most improbable of circumstances, but shocked the world by defeating the number one ranked team in the world, Spain, in the semi-finals to advance to have the privilege of playing the world’s most successful team.

By most accounts, the USA had to score first in this match so they would not have to chase the match against a squad that can shut a game down simply by maintaining possession. But not only did USA score first, they scored the game’s first two goals. Clint Dempsey(Fulham) opened the scoring for the USA in the 9^th minute by redirecting a centering pass from Johathan Spector (West Ham United) to the far left post by Brazil keeper Julio Cesar (Inter Milan).

USA 1 Brazil 0.

Then only 17 minutes later, the Americans displayed speed and quality on a stunning counter attack by Landon Donovan and Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF). Donovan quickly moved the ball through the middle and passed to the left wing where Davies made a perfect pass back to Donovan in the middle who calmly gained possession and changed direction to give himself some space for his shot to the right portion of the goal.

USA 2 Brazil 0.

What?

To say that Brazil was a bit stunned is an understatement. Perhaps the Americans players, and their soccer fans, were stunned, too. The USA managed to keep the lead and the score at the half, with the aid of some spectacular goalkeeping by Tim Howard (Everton).

As great teams can do when under duress, Brazil came out for the second half by applying constant offensive pressure in waves. Less than one minute into the second half, Brazil provided the game-changer when Maicon (Inter Milan) found Luis Fabiano (Sevilla) in the center and made a spinning turn shot past defender Jay DeMerit (Watford, captain) and caught Howard off balance.

USA 2 Brazil 1.

In the 60^th minute, a play that threatened to put somewhat of an asterisk on any 2-1 USA victory occurred when Kaká (Real Madrid) headed a crossing pass from Andre Santos that arguably crossed the goal line before USA goalie Howard slapped the ball back into the field of play off the underside of the crossbar before grabbing it and holding on. But play was waived on with no goal signal. Kaká protested in vain. That didn’t seem to faze Brazil for very long. In the 73^rd minute, Luis Fabiano’s brace tied the match, a point-black header right after a bit of chaos in the box where Kaka’s cross was kicked by Robinho (Manchester City) and deflected off the post toward Fabiano.

USA 2 Brazil 2.

Now, the USA looked tired, waiting for the inevitable, which came in the 83^rd minute, when Lucio (Bayern Munich) scored on a header from an Elano (Manchester City) corner kick to move the samba boys into the lead. Brazil had no trouble holding on the remaining 6 minutes of regular time plus a couple minutes of injury time to win the competition.

 

USA 2 Brazil 3.

This was a riveting final played physically with a high pace. Not what you might normally expect from a Brazil national squad, but this is Dunga’s team, playing pragmatic football on the world stage as opposed to putting on a show of one-touch, short passing through the midfield.

The story is two-fold. First, this Brazil comeback will give them added confidence (like they needed any more) when finishing off their remaining World Cup qualifying games and into their return to South Africa in a year. Second, this competition might well be remembered for how the USA not only displaced the favorite Spain in the semi-finals 2-0 on June 24 in Bloemfontein, but how they beat all odds by making it out of their group.

The USA was grouped with Brazil, Italy, and Egypt, and most gave them little to no hope of making it out. After looking pretty listless with no quality in two lop-sided losses to Italy (1-3) and Brazil (0-3), the Americans faced certain elimination on June 21 when USA faced Egypt. An improbable combination of events had to occur for USA to go through. The Americans (1) had to defeat Egypt by at least three goals, and (2) Italy had to lose to Brazil by at least three goals. Results?

Brazil 3 Italy 0.

USA 3 Egypt 0.

This put USA, Italy, and Egypt in a tie for second place - all with 3 points (Brazil cruised to win the group with 9 points). The first tie-breaking scheme eliminated Egypt but left USA and Italy each with a minus-two goal difference (Egypt was eliminated with a -3 goal difference). The tie was broken based on goals scored in the group stage matches (USA scored 4, Italy scored 3).

This allowed the USA the chance to make some history by facing Spain in the semi-final. The shocking 2-0 win over Spain advanced USA to their first men’s FIFA final ever while keeping Spain from breaking Brazil’s international record of 35 consecutive matches unbeaten (Spain had tied the record with their 15^th straight victory, a 2-0 win over host South Africa on June 20).

For a much-maligned international tournament, this final is one I will remember fondly.