The USA were well on the road to their first ever men’s FIFA tournament win today (June 28th) after they took a 2-0 lead over Brazil in the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, they made the fatal mistake that most teams do once they get a lead, they simply stopped playing and let the game slip through their fingers as Brazil came back and punished them for it wad walked off the pitch with a 3-2 win after 90 minutes.

Clint Dempsey got the Americans of to a great start as he scored in the 10th minute on their first attack of the game as he bounced a shot past Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar.

Robinho came down left wing in the 13th minute and unleashed low right-footed shot that toward the far low corner, but keeper Tim Howard dove and turned it away with a fine save. Howard also made excellent stops in the 25th and 27th minutes and then Landon Donovan scored his 41st goal for the USA on a lightning-quick counter attack. Donovan slotted home a left footer into the low corner to the left of Cesar after a pass from Charlie Davies and the USA found themselves up 2-0 after just 27 minutes.

Howard made a fine save in the 35th minute and then Luis Fabiano headed over the bar just a few seconds later on the ensuing corner kick. Fabiano then missed a chance to get Brazil on the scoreboard before the half ended as he missed a low cross in injury time.

However Fabiano made amends for it in the first minute of the second half as he drove home a low left footer from edge of the box to make it 2-1. It was obviously the worst thing that could have happened for the Americans and it was a sign of things to come.

Howard made another fine save from a corner in the in 58th min and just a few moments later, Kaka, with a downward header, looked like he had tied the game up, but the ball was pushed out by Howard and off of the crossbar. Television replays couldn’t show if the whole ball definitely crossed the line because of their angles, but it looked like it may have gone in.

Dempsey had a chance to make it 3-1, but his left footer was saved by Cesar in 66th minute. In the 67th, Brazilian manager Dunga made a double substitution as he brought on Elano, and Daniel Alves came on for Andre Santos and Ramires.

That seemed to spark the team and Fabiano beat the offside trap in 70th minute and broke in on Howard, but the keeper came off his line well and made the save.

Brazil finally tied it at 2-2 when Kaka’s close-range shot hit the crossbar and bounced out right to Fabiano, who headed the rebound into the net for his tournament-leading fifth goal in the 74th minute. The inevitable happened just 10 minutes later as Brazilian captain Lucio headed in a corner kick from Elano in the 84th minute for the 3-2 winner and Brazil’s third Confederations Cup title.

The Americans only have themselves to blame as they didn’t continue playing the style that had put them in front 2-0. They failed to attack with any consistency at all in the final 45 minutes and paid the price for it.

In the third-place game, Spain beat hosts South Africa 3-2 in extra time.

If the South African coaching staff had read the article “Time to tear down the wall” in our football strategy section they might have made it into the Confederations Cup final. Instead, the host nation was beaten by Brazil 1-0 today (June 25th) in the 87th minute on a long-range Daniel Alves free kick that beat keeper Itumeleng Khune after nicking the far post. Alves had come on just seven minutes earlier as a substitute for Andre Santos.

If there had been a defender at the post, at least South Africa would have had a chance of stopping the thunderous shot. In fact, the shot might have even hit him. Instead, South Africa will have to settle playing for third place in the tournament while it will be Brazil vs the USA in the final on June 27th. This was by far the best game the hosts played during the event and with a little better aim, or a touch of luck they could have won it or at least took it to extra time. They approached the game positively and had more chances to score than Brazil, but keeper Julio Cesar thwarted them on every occasion.

Again it showed that previous records and odds and winning streaks and whatever else you want to include, don’t matter at all once the game starts. If you’re a boxer and your opponent can punch like hell, you either have to smother him or keep him on the defensive so he can’t unload on you for 12 rounds. This is what South Africa realized and instead of inviting the Brazilians to attack them for 90 minutes and hope for a lucky punch, they took it to them whenever they could and came oh so close.

The South Africans weren’t afraid to shoot…from anywhere actually, and they hammered several long-distance shots that were saved by Cesar or just missed the post by inches. Brazil, of course, created quite a few chances of their own, but Khune handled everything they could throw at him. After the goal, South Africa had a hard time getting possession of the ball and that may have had a lot to do with a massive three-man substitution that was made in the 90th minute. The changes seemed to spoil the team’s rhythm and they never really regained the ball long enough for them to snatch an equalizer before the final whistle.

In fact, Brazil should have doubled the score in injury time though, as Fabiano was in all alone on Khune, but the keeper came out well to block the shot. As far as Brazil goes, they didn’t play badly, and could have had another goal or two as well, but it definitely won’t go down in the history books as one of their greatest performances. You could have seen the relief on manager Dunga’s face when Alves’ shot hit the back of the net.

The South Africans will be thinking about all of the glorious chances they missed and the saves that Cesar made, but they sure gave it their best for the 50,000 home fans and for the millions watching on TV around the world. It was a game well worth watching.