Brazil Create Magic in the Maracana

   

Brazil line-up: Julio Cesar, Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo, Oscar, Dias, Paulinho (Hernanes, 88'), Fred (Jo, 80'), Neymar, Hulk (Jadson, 73')

Spain line-up: Casillas, Pique, Ramos, Arbeloa (Azpilicueta, 46'), Alba, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets, Torres (Villa, 59'), Pedro, Mata (Navas, 52')

Brazil lay down their marker for next year’s World Cup by claiming their third consecutive Confederations Cup. Two goals from Fred and another from Neymar saw Spain’s hopes of winning all three major international tournaments wiped out in stunning fashion. Gerard Pique was sent off at and Sergio Ramos also missed a penalty at 3-0 as Spain played their worst competitive game in a long time.

The Maracana was magic before a ball was kicked. The Brazilian national anthem was awe-inspiring once again and definitely spurred the hosts in to action. The crowd were rewarded within two minutes when Hulk’s cross caused a mad scramble in the box. The ball fell under Fred, who was on the floor, but the striker managed to react as it rolled and he kicked the ball over Iker Casillas to give Brazil the lead.

Spain, just like in the semi-final, were second best for nearly all of the game and they should have been 2-0 down after eight minutes. A good bit of build-up ended with the ball deflecting off of Alvaro Arbeloa to Fred. Fred then laid it off to Oscar but the Chelsea man dragged his effort wide. Spain still hadn’t created anything by the time Paulinho had tried to chip Casillas but the keeper had got back to his line yet still had to parry it down on the line before clutching.

It could have got worse on the quarter of an hour mark when there was a case for the World Champions to go down to ten men. The ball was hit over the top and Neymar would have been clean through. But Arbeloa dragged him down on the halfway line to prevent Neymar getting in. It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see Arbreloa sent off but the distance between the foul and the goal may have saved him. The decision did cause a little bit of handbags amongst the players but there was nothing in it and the game continued.

Spain finally got an effort on target after 20-minutes when Andres Iniesta’s long effort was parried by Julio Cesar for a corner. The resulting set piece did find Fernando Torres but his header went wide.  Sergio Ramos was potentially lucky to also stay on the field when he cynically brought Oscar down on the edge of the box, although Oscar was already on his way down because Hulk’s ball through to him was a little over hit. It should have been 2-0 on 32-minutes when Brazil managed to break after Jordi Alba was guilty of giving the ball away. Neymar managed to thread a glorious ball through to Fred but the striker could only hit his shot at Casillas, who was able to parry it away.

Spain’s best chance in the whole match came four minutes before half-time. They managed to break two on one with Juan Mata rushing down the wing. Mata then fed the ball across for Pedro and the Barcelona man curled his effort around Julio Cesar. It was going towards goal, only for David Luiz to slide in and fantastically clear the ball off the line for a corner. This was arguably the game’s biggest ‘turning’ point.

Just three minutes later, Brazil had finally scored their second. It came from another break with Neymar again at the heart of it. He played the ball across to Oscar before the Chelsea man returned the favour, playing Neymar in down the line in the box. The player of the tournament managed to smash his effort in to the back of the net before Casillas had chance to react.

Spain needed something to build on in the second half. What they didn’t need was Brazil to score a third just two minutes in to the half to virtually end the game there and then. It was a move that began with Marcelo; it came off a Spanish foot before the ball fed in to Fred was side stepped by Neymar and Fred curled his effort beautifully in to the bottom corner.

Spain were offered a small chance of getting back in to the game on 54-minutes when Marcelo stupidly clipped substitute Jesus Navas, after just two minutes of being on the field, in the box when he was going nowhere. Ramos stepped up but managed to put his penalty wide, summing up the match for Spain.

Iniesta again tried to lift his team but his shot was straight at Julio Cesar. This allowed Brazil to counter and one ball over the top again beat the defence. But Casillas was quick to get off his line and prevent a fourth from going in. Marcelo would also have an effort from an audacious angle hit the side netting.

The final nail in the coffin came on 68-minutes when Spain went down to ten men. Neymar was bursting through once again and Pique dived in to stop the run on the edge of the box. The referee had no option but to send Pique off, much to wife, Shakira’s, dismay. Spain did try to give themselves something to cheer about but Julio Cesar was in fantastic form and fully deserved a clean sheet, ending Spain’s run in major tournaments in shocking fashion.

Earlier, there was the small matter of the third/fourth play-off between Uruguay and Italy. Italy took the lead on 25-minutes when Alessandro Diamanti’s free-kick dipped on to the post. The rebounded off of Fernando Muslera’s back before David Astori tapped the ball home on the line for his first ever goal. However, the decision to award Astori with the goal didn’t come until late in to the second half, so much for this fast goal line technology.

Uruguay equalised 13-minutes in to the second half when Edinson Cavani managed to curl the ball low around Gianluigi Buffon. Italy retook the lead on 73-minutes when Diamanti sent curled a great free-kick past Muslera. This ended up being out-done five minutes later when Cavani levelled once again with a brilliant free-kick of his own which gave Buffon no chance. Riccardo Montolivo would be sent off in the second half of extra time which meant he missed the penalty shoot-out. Mattia De Sciglio missed Italy’s first penalty before Diego Forlan and Martin Caceres both missed for Uruguay. Goals from Alberto Aquilani, Stephan El Shaarawy and Emanuele Giaccherini made it 3-2 with Uruguay needing to score their fifth and final penalty. Walter Gargano stepped up but it was saved by Buffon, which meant they claimed third place without the need for their fifth penalty.