Barcelona defender Daniel Alves spared Brazil’s blushes as his late goal earned the five-time world champions a 1-0 win over spirited South Africa on Thursday to book their place in the Confederations Cup final.
This semi-final against the hosts was heading for extra time until Alves, in an inspired move by coach Dunga, replaced Andre Santos and broke the stalemate with a curling free kick in the 88th minute.
Explaining his master move, Dunga said: “We knew it was going to be difficult, we knew South Africa were going to attack, to defend and counter-attack. The game was very tight so I sent on an aggressive player [Alves] who is very quick and a specialist in set pieces, he practices set pieces every day.”
PHOTO: EPA
“We had to make use of any opportunity that came our way so a foul in fornt of goal was perfect for us,” Dunga said.
Brazil now face the US in tomorrow’s final with South Africa heading to Rustenburg for the third-place playoff with Spain.
South Africa were without suspended midfielder Macbeth Sibaya, his place taken by Siphiwe Tshabalala, while Brazil midfielder Luisao started for injured Juan.
With South African President Jacob Zuma watching, about the only one of the 48,000 fans not blowing into a vuvuzela, South Africa made a promising start as they fought to make their first final since the 1996 African Nations Cup.
Against the run of play Itumelang Khune was forced into action to save a Ramires effort while shortly after his counterpart Julio Cesar was in full flight to cover a long range effort from speedy defender Siboniso Gaxa.
South Africa were giving as good as they got as Brazil tried to work the ball repeatedly down the left flank using Inter Milan back Maicon as the key link.
With eight minutes left and as extra time loomed, Dunga introduced Alves into the fray and the Barcelona defender repaid the confidence when he beat the Bafana Bafana wall with a thundering free kick two minutes from time.
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS