Brazil Win Confederations Cup over USA

For 74 minutes of the FIFA Confederations Cup final, it looked like a massive upset was taking place.

But that's when Brazil turned the clock to midnight on the American run to the trophy. Luis Fabiano dug the Samba Boys out of a 2-0 deficit before captain Lucio scored in the 84th minute to give the Brazilians a thrilling 3-2 victory and their third Confederations Cup title in South Africa.

"We were able to correct our positioning and that allowed us to pressure our opponent a little more in the second half," Brazil coach Dunga said. "The U.S. was able to score after we made mistakes on the back."

Goals by Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan 27 minutes into the game gave the Americans a 2-0 lead and flustered the Selecao for much of the first half, but Fabiano scored less than a minute after the restart and again in the 74th minute before Lucio brought Brazil all the way back late in the match.

"We gave up the first goal so early in second half," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "We really put ourselves in a tough spot."

With Brazil's tails up late, midfielder Elano swung a corner kick into the box that Lucio headed strongly into the back of the net past U.S. keeper Tim Howard for the game winner.

"We made some changes and things improved," Dunga said. "We gained more control and more speed."

With the win, the Brazilians are now the most successful side in Confederations Cup history.

But it wasn't easy. The Americans, competing in their first senior international final, looked poised to pull off another massive upset after gaining the two-goal lead. Howard led the way, looking like he was in a trance while stopping everything the Selecao threw his way.

Brazil takes over

The Americans could only hang on for so long though, as Brazil levelled all of its offensive firepower their way, outshooting the U.S. 25-8 and holding a 59-41 edge in possession percentage.

Fabiano took the Golden Boot award, as his two goals in the final gave him the overall scoring lead. Brazilian playmaker Kaka won the Golden Ball, given to the tournament most valuable player.

Now the Samba Boys will try to buck the trend that has seen no Confederations Cup champion lift the World Cup trophy the next year.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter and Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa, presented the Confederations Cup trophy to Brazil captain Lucio and the rest of the squad.

Earlier in the day, Spain defeated host side South Africa 3-2 in extra time to grab third place in the tournament.

Samba beat interrupted

Brazil began leaning on the Americans early, but out of nowhere, it was the U.S. that found the early breakthrough.

Defender Jonathan Spector sent a long ball toward Dempsey in the Brazilian penalty area, and the Fulham striker got the faintest of touches on it with his right foot.

That was enough to send the ball past keeper Julio Cesar to give the Americans a shocking 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the match.

Howard stopped Robinho and Felipe Melo in close a couple of minutes later to preserve the lead as Brazil took the lion's share of possession.

The Selecao almost looked panicked even though the game was still in the early stages, as they hurled players forward in hopes of a quick equalizer.

Instead, the already shaky-looking defence conceded again on the counter, and the Americans were suddenly two up on the five-time World Cup champions.

In the 27th minute, the Americans found themselves with a two-on-two break after clearing a Brazilian corner kick, and Charlie Davies sent a beautiful ball over to Donovan on the right side.

The all-time leading goal scorer for the American national team then cut to the middle and slid a left-footer by Cesar for a 2-0 U.S. lead.

"We're at the point where we don't want respect, we want to win," Donovan said after the match. "There's no guarantee we ever get back to a final game like this, so it's disappointing."

Howard continued to frustrate a Brazilian side that looked more than a little flustered late in the half.

Fabiano to the rescue

But Fabiano came to life in the second half.

The Sevilla striker took a pass at the top of the box 40 seconds after the start and made a brilliant turn toward goal before firing a left-footed shot through defender Jay DeMerit's legs and past Howard to bring Brazil within one of tying the game.

Then a little controversy was thrown into the mix. In the 60th minute, Brazil's Kaka punched a header toward goal that Howard batted onto the underside of the crossbar.

Kaka and his teammates furiously lobbied for a goal, as they thought the ball crossed the line before the U.S. keeper punched it clear, and it looked like Brazil had a strong case after replays were shown. But the score remained 2-1 heading into the final third of the game.

Brazil finally tied the game in the 74th minute, and it came from Fabiano again as he continued to be the most dangerous player moving forward for the Samba Boys.

The move started with Kaka as he blew by Spector on the left side and sent a low cross into the box. Robinho hit the bar with his effort, but Fabiano followed it up with a header, and this time there was no mistaking — the ball was in the net.

After the goal, Brazil circled the wagons as the Americans tried desperately to defend, but the U.S. couldn't hang on as Lucio scored with six minutes left to seal the comeback.