Goalkeeper Julio Cesar blocked Andres D'Alessandro's shot and Gabriel Heinze missed over the crossbar as Brazil overcame Argentina 4-2 on penalties in the Copa America final on Sunday.
The archrivals played to a thrilling 2-2 draw in regulation in a near-capacity National Stadium.
Cesar, who also blocked a shot in the shootout against Uruguay in the semifinals, dove to his right to stop D'Alessandro's opening attempt for Argentina. Defender Heinze then missed the second shot. Brazil, however, made all of its penalty kicks, capped by defender Juan's for their seventh Copa title, and first against Argentina in the finals.
PHOTO: AFP
"We never thought it would be easy," Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "Argentina came with all these experienced players, but our team proved they are capable of overcoming any difficulties."
Adriano, Edu, Diego and Juan all scored for the world champions, while only Cristian Gonzalez and Juan Pablo Sorin netted for Argentina, which missed a grand chance to win a record 15th Copa title.
"There are things that can't be explained in soccer," Argentina midfielder Javier Zanetti said. "That's what happened against Brazil, we can't explain what went wrong."
Brazil had to equalize in injury time of each half, the last time in the third minute of second-half injury time by Adriano, the tournament's top scorer with seven goals.
"I can't explain how I'm feeling right now," Adriano said. "This is definitely the greatest moment in my career."
Argentina had only gone ahead in the 87th minute, when replacement striker Cesar Delgado's powerful shot appeared to have deservedly won it for the dominant Albiceleste.
Adriano's equalizer began a squabble between both teams on the field when Argentina players took exception to taunts from Brazil's bench. Referee Carlos Amarilla requested riot police to separate the sides and prepare for the shootout.
"They shouldn't have celebrated ahead of time," Parreira said of Argentina. "It's one thing to slow the game down, but you can get in trouble when you start fooling around with the ball before it's all over."
Argentina's patient craft allowed it to control possession and pin Brazil in its half for long stretches, but the Brazilians' explosive counterattacks helped rivet 40,000 spectators to their seats.
Brazil's third title in four Copas capped an unexpectedly successful campaign by a second-string side. Parreira rested his major stars for World Cup qualifying.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was