Brazil rallies past U.S. for Confederations Cup title

June 29, 2:00 AMMLS ExaminerCharlie Corr

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  AP photo / Tim Howard stands next to an emotional Clint Dempsey (right).

The budding Cinderella story did not have the happiest of endings for the U.S. Men's National Team, but the Americans have quite a bit to be proud of in the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Despite a 2-0 halftime lead, the U.S. could not hold on as Brazil rallied for a 3-2 victory in the Confederations Cup championship Sunday. Nevertheless, it was the U.S.'s first appearance in a FIFA final, and people are taking notice of this accomplishment, taking an early lead against the always dangerous Brazil, and of course reaching the title game after beating Spain, 2-0, in the semifinals.

"I think people around the world see that we have a good team, we have good players, and hopefully we can continue to step forward," U.S. head coach Bob Bradley said.

Former New England Revolution midfielder Clint Dempsey and the Los Angeles Galaxy's Landon Donovan provided the offense in the first half. For a third straight game, Dempsey netted a goal, this time in the 10th minute. And Donovan provided a 2-0 lead on a strong counterattack with Charlie Davies in the 27th.

But Brazil was a thorn in the U.S.'s hearts immediately after halftime. Luis Fabiano scored for Brazil in the 46th and 74th minutes. And Lucio's tally in the 84th off of a corner kick gave Brazil a 3-2 lead the rest of the way.

"It's disappointing because we started the game really well and put them on their heels, which most teams don't do against Brazil," Donovan said.

Former N.Y./N.J. MetroStars goalkeeper Tim Howard once again came up with some huge saves. He had eight against Brazil. Similar to the Spain match, Brazil was the dominant threat offensively, with a 25-9 shots advantage and an 11-4 shots on goal advantage. Plus, the Brazilians had twice as many corner kicks (10-5).

Much of this U.S. group will not be a part of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which starts up Saturday, July 4, with a 6 p.m. PT match against Grenada at Qwest Field in Seattle. Fifteen of the 23 men on the Gold Cup roster currently play in Major League Soccer.

Deciphering the final: Not to take away from the second-place accomplishment, but over the past two matches, time of possession heavily went against the U.S. It is safe to say that Spain and Brazil likely held a 60/40 advantage over the U.S. in time of possession, or even led by a greater ratio. The good news is that the U.S. is capitalizing on opposing teams' mistakes. But the lack of possession is definitely something that the U.S. needs to change moving forward.

The U.S. was without Michael Bradley, who was out with a red card. But even a superb performance from him in the midfield probably would not have altered anything from Brazil's constant attack Sunday.

This lived up to be the perfect 2010 FIFA World Cup preparation (pending qualification) that the U.S. hoped this Confederations Cup would be. There certainly will be lineup tweaks here and there, especially if someone makes a lasting impression in the Gold Cup and throughout the remaining World Cup qualifying matches.

In the end, the U.S. players can hold their heads high after finishing this tournament the way they did, especially when their start to the Confederations Cup was disappointing, to say the least.

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Send a message: E-mail your comments or thoughts to charliecorr@gmail.com.

Charlie Corr is a freelance sports writer based in Chicago. In addition to his Major League Soccer duties, he is the Chicago Sports Examiner and the creator of a Chicago-based soccer Web site, SlideTackles.net.

Follow Charlie on Twitter!