Indeed, scoring the first goal in the 10th minute (Clint Dempsey) of the game and a second in the 27th minute (Landon Donovan) with a strong defensive formation that prevented the South American stars from reaching the net, the US looked poised for the big surprise of winning the cup after a miserable start to the tournament. But it was not meant to be because Kaka had yet to sing his final song.

After an incredibly disappointing half for Brazil, the tables turned with the second half kickoff. Just a minute into the game Luis Fabiano scored Brazil’s first goal on a great turn and shot from the top of the box. The same player scored the tying goal in the 74th minute after Kaka made a great run from the left, crossed to Robinho who hit the crossbar, and then Fabiano headed the ball into the net from close distance. With Brazil dominating the game since the start of the second half, it was only a matter of time before they scored the winning goal. And ten minutes later at the 84th minute, Brazil captain Luis scored another header from a corner giving Brazil the much needed victory and 3rd Confederations Cup.

Kudos to the US team who managed to go this far and too bad that they couldn’t keep it up for the last 45 minutes of the tournament to bring home the trophy. But even more kudos to the Brazilian team who did not give up and pushed hard to win this thriller match. Kaka once again was Brazil’s best player and I can’t wait to see him play for Real Madrid this coming soccer season.

For completeness, Spain defeated South Africa in overtime to claim third place in the tournament.

There really isn’t much to say about the game other than Brazil didn’t play very well and that South Africa probably deserved better than a last minute loss. The South Americans will have to up their game come Sunday as they have to play a determined US team which, let us not forget, just a day ago defeated the undefeated Spaniards. If Brazil play their usual game they should have little difficulty against the North Americans but if they don’t take the game seriously we might witness a big upset with the US winning first place. Certainly, few if any believed at the beginning of the tournament that the US had any serious chance of finishing at the top. And yet, here we are.

It is true that the Americans started the game strong and made the point that they were not there to lose as everyone expected with Spain being the favorites to reach the final and play, in all likelihood, against Brazil. But it was not meant to be since the US found a way to stop the talented and high-scoring European and number one ranked team. They put 11 players behind the ball and defended like their lives depended on it. They relied mostly on counter attacks for scoring goals and if it was not for one brilliant play in the 27th minute and a terrible defensive mistake in the 74th minutes, the US would not have won this game.

First to score was Jozy Altidore who turned on Villarreal teammate Joan Capdevila to score the first goal. Second to score was Clint Dempsey half-way through the second half; Clint capitalized on a poor clearance by Sergio Ramos and slotted his team’s second goal taking the American team to the Cup final. So, the US managed to go from losing their first two games in the competition to winning the next two and reaching the final against all odds.

So, what is to take from this game? Other than the fact that a world record has come to an end and the fact that we are not going to see a Spain vs Brazil final game (damn it!) I think the most important aspect of this match is how valuable is going to become to all coaches who might play Spain in the next year. Yes, coaches will study this game trying to figure out what the USA did well to stop the best team in the world. Not to mention that the Spaniards are no longer thought of as unbeatable and many teams that play against will have a lot more confidence on the pitch. In other words, it has just become much harder for Spain to go on another undefeated streak.

In the other semi-final game tonight, Brazil will take on South Africa. Let’s see if another surprise result is in the works.

Italy’s performance in the tournament was rather disappointing overall. In 3 games, they only managed to win one against a 10-man USA team. Brazil was not going to play games in the last game of the first round and in the span of 10 minutes towards the end of the first half scored 3 goals to send the Italians packing. Kaka proved with his performance yesterday that Real Madrid certainly did not waste their money in acquiring him from AC Milan this summer. Luis Fabiano scored 2 goals for Brazil while Italy’s defender Andrea Dossena scored an own goal to create the final score 3-0. In the meantime, Italy coach Marcello Lippi is under fire for his team’s miserable appearance at the Confederations Cup. Many complaining that he did not give younger players more chances; he insists that his choices where the best he could make to field a competitive team. Too bad it didn’t work for him.

USA also managed to squeeze through to the next round by defeating Egypt 3-0. After two games, Egypt had shown to be the better team but the USA team managed to overcome 2 very bad performances early in the tournament to win the game and the 3-way tie that resulted at the conclusion of the last two games for the group. USA now has a date with European Champions, undefeated, world-record holders Spain. In my opinion, this is a game that Spain should win stretching their winning streak to 16 games. Brazil will play South Africa in a game that they will most likely win. In other words, there is a good chance that we are going to see a final game between Spain and Brazil. Could this be a prelude to the 2010 World Cup final? We shall see, I guess.

That said, Spain reached the world record winning streak with two second-half goals by David Villa (who also missed a penalty kick a minute before scoring the winning goal) and Fernando Llorente who solidified Spain’s victory at the 72nd minute of the game. Cesc Fabregas was easily the man of the match working tirelessly in the midfield, assisting in the second goal and according to some statistics connecting 91% of his passes.

For what is worth, South Africa also moved on to the next round as second in the group. A scoreless draw between Iraq and New Zealand brought much happiness to South African fans who saw their team continue in the competition despite the loss to Spain.

Kaka’s magnificent performance lead his team to a 4-3 victory when he calmly converted a late penalty kick. Kaka had also scored Brazil’s first goal when he embarrassed three defenders with some slick dribbling in the box and easily put the ball past Egypt’s goalkeeper Essam El Hadary.

Enjoy Kaka’s first goal in the below video.

In the second game of the day, South Africa (the 2010 World Cup hosts) and Iraq (the Asian champions) played to a scoreless draw in a game that will not be remembered. Confederation Cup action continues today with the USA playing World Cup holders Italy and Brazil (the South American champions) taking on Egypt.