Confederations Cup – Brazil upsets USA and moves closer to semis

Brazil defeated a very weak United States team on Thursday at the Confederations Cup and moved closer to be in the semifinals, where Spain has a spot already. The United States have lost the two games they have played so far in the competition; the first one against Italy and the second one against Brazil, with a performance that left a lot to be desired and many questions as well since up to this moment they got no points and no probabilities of moving forward in the tournament. Felipe Melo opened up the score at the seventh minute when Maicon made a free kick and he completed the whole play; then at minute 20’ Robinho put the score 2-0 making a very comfortable half- time break for the Brazilians that came back in the second half with a lot more to show and at minute 62’ Maicon added the third goal that assured the victory to the carioca team. The US team needed desperately to win over Brazil. This was something that they have never done before, but at the minimum they needed a draw to stay alive in the Confederations Cup. Now everything is uncertain and everything indicates that they will come back home empty-handed. They will face Egypt on Sunday but even if they win, it will not be enough if previously Italy wins over Egypt on Thursday. The Confederations Cup has not been a good tournament for the Americans; they had a bad start with Italy on Monday on the opening game that ended 3-1, where they ended up the game with 10 men, and the same thing happened in the game with Brazil when midfielder Sacha Kljestan made a foul to Ramires in minute 57’, giving even more opportunities to Brazil with the open spots that where left when Kljestan got expulsed. The US team was missing the defenders Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo and Frankie Hejduk due to injuries, making their defense weaker. Captain Landon Donovan did everything that he could but the opportunities were not there for him or the team. He tried to create some plays but they were not concreted. Brazil, for its part, was a very solid rival. The performances of all of its players were very remarkable, including Kaka, Robinho and Felipe Melo. Their first game against Egypt was kind of difficult to win for them and it actually almost ended up with a 3-3 draw, before a penalty kick by Kaká in the last minute of the game gave the victory to the South Americans. Moreover, the carioca team is also coming from qualifying round for the World Cup with two victories against Paraguay and Uruguay, and they are the defending champions of the Confederations Cup. Kaka expressed that this is a very good experience and added that “Playing in the Confederations Cup is a great opportunity ahead of the 2010 World Cup, and as long as we remain strong during the difficult periods, like against Egypt, I think we’ll be on the right track. In a short tournament with decisive matches, that’s all that matters” he said. The six points that Brazil has so far are putting them in the first place of group B and we will have to wait and see what happens between Egypt and Italy.