There was a festival of goals on day 2 of the Confederations cup as Group B got underway with 2 of the best footballing nations taking to the field.
The game of the day was from the Free State Stadium in Mangaung/Bloemfontein where the South African crowd were treated to some skillfull and flowing football from both sides as Brazil defeated Egypt 4-3. The samba stars stormed to a 3-1 half time lead before the brave Egypt got back on level terms shortly after the break. It took an injury time penalty for Real Madrid new by ‘Kaka’ to claim the victory for Brazil. It was Kaka who gave Brazil the lead after just 5 minutes as he slotted home from inside the box. Mohamed Zidan then levelled matters after just 9 minutes, the impressive Borussia Dortmund star headed home from Mohamed Aboutrika’s cross. 3 Mintues later Luis Fabiano got a head to Elano’s free kick to restore Brazils advantage and then Juan scored the 3rd header of the match to make it 3-1 to Brazil at half time. Egypt Levelled after the break with 2 goals in as many minutes from Mohamed Shawky and Mohamed Zidan. In the last minute, Lucio’s shot was handled on the line by Ahmed Al Muhamadi. The Egypitan defender was sent off, and Kaka then slotted the penalty home to claim the win.
The second game of the day came from the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Tshwane/Pretoria where Italy defeated the USA by 3 goals to 1. It was quite ironic that it was supersub Giuseppe Rossi who was born in New Jersey in the USA who won the match for the Azzuri. After half an hour of patient play by the Italians Houston Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark lunged at Gennaro Gattuso leaving the referee with no option but to brandish the red card. It was 10 man Usa however that took the lead just before the break as Landon Donovon converted from the spot after Giorgio Chiellini brought down Jozy Altidore inside the box. Supersub Giuseppe Rossi levelled the match after 60 minutes as he picked up the ball and smashed it home from 30 yards after being on the pitch for less than 1 minute. The Italians took control of the match then and after 70 minutes Daniele de Rossi gave them the lead after firing home from the edge of the box. Giuseppe Rossi finished the game off from close range late into stoppage time to complete the victory for the Italians.
