







Hassan Chamas







What: Confederations Cup final

Who: USA vs. Brazil

When: Sunday 28th June, 2009, at 18:30 GMT

Where: Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg, South Africa

USA All the Way

This isn’t the US basketball “dream team”, nor is it one of the Yankees’ most renowned baseball clubs. It’s the USA “soccer” team, and, believe it or not, they have made it all the way to the final of the Confederations Cup in South Africa, a year before the real deal gets under way. Bob Bradley’s team have made it plain and simple for all to see that “soccer” is no longer a marginalised sport in the USA. After brutally putting an end to Spain’s undefeated 35-game streak, they’ll tackle the next big thing in Brazil, and go down as serious players in the 2010 World Cup.

Bye-Bye Bafana

It took Selecao coach Dunga a while to make way for Daniel Alves in the final minutes of the bout against South Africa. From the edge of the box, the Barcelona wide man blasted a screamer of a free kick to send the South American champions into ecstasy, and the hosts out. Now, they have the chance to fly past France and stand in pole position as the team with the most Confederations Cups to their name. With such an impressive side, everything is possible.



Recent form

United States:

USA 1 – 3 Italy (Group)

USA 0 – 3 Brazil (Group)

Egypt 0 – 3 USA (Group)

Spain 0 – 2 USA (Semi-final)

Brazil:

Brazil 4 – 3 Egypt (Group)

USA 0 – 3 Brazil (Group)

Italy 0 – 3 Brazil (Group)

Brazil 1 – 0 South Africa (Semi-final)

Players to watch

United States – Tim Howard: The former Manchester United keeper had an excellent game against La Seleccion, and silenced his doubters on this particular occasion. Should he prove to be as glittering as he was against Casillas and co, He may prove to be a tough nut to crack for Robinho and the rest of the boys.

Brazil – Kaka: Like his role at Milan, the new Real Madrid playmaker has been at the heart of the national team in this tournament. He didn’t beat a lot of defenders this time around, but keep an eye on him as he will make sure to slide that magical pass to either Luis Fabiano or Robinho.

Team weakness

United States – Charlie Davies: The Hammarby striker lost his glow in the event of Altidore’s brilliance against La Furia Roja, and had to be taken off by Bradley. It will be anyone’s guess if he makes the starting XI against Brazil, but if he does, he better have his shooting boots on this time around.

Brazil – Luisao: Nobody looks good standing next to Lucio, but the Benfica stopper will have to give his all in order to prevent any US attack. Billed as the weakest link of the back-four, Landon Donovan’s team will build on this point.



Match Prediction

It’s not Spain against Brazil, but still should be the thriller everybody expects. The Americans shocked the world by sinking the Spanish fleet, while Brazil needed a last minute individual effort to re-visit the Coca-Cola stadium. Yet, the men from the south may prove to be too much for the current CONCACAF winners and a 3-1 scoreline for the five-times World champions does not seem an unlikely outcome.



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