An incredible Maracana atmosphere spurred Brazil to their third consecutive FIFA Confederations Cup, with a brilliant 3-0 win against FIFA World Cup™ holders Spain. Fred grabbed a brace and Neymar scored yet another brilliant goal.
Sergio Ramos missed a penalty with his side three down and Gerard Pique then saw red with around 20 minutes remaining.
The atmosphere was remarkable before kick-off, with the Brazilian national anthem sung passionately by A Seleção's faithful, and the stadium erupted in the second minute. Hulk received the ball on the Brazil right and curled a ball into the Spain six-yard box. Neymar tried to control but the ball dropped just in front of Fred,
who had fallen to the floor. He scooped his right foot under the ball
and sent a shot past Iker Casillas. The hordes of yellow-shirted fans
created an incredible roar and Spain were stunned.
Brazil harried and chased Spain all over the pitch, with the crowd pushing them on. Oscar shot wide of Casillas’ right-hand post and Fred squandered a golden opportunity when he was set free by Neymar.
Jordi Alba then broke down the Spain left and sent Pedro one-on-one with Julio Cesar. The Barça winger
curled a left-footed effort past the Queens Park Rangers' keeper, but
David Luiz sprinted back to remarkably clear off the line with the
Spanish bench already celebrating. The crowd celebrated the block as
loudly as the Fred opener, but it was to Brazil’s No10 who would raise the volume still further.
Doing well to keep onside, Neymar received an Oscar pass to the left of the Spain
area. He steadied himself, before rifling a powerful left-footed drive
past Casillas into the roof of the net. The tournament’s poster-boy
sprinted to the sea of yellow and the crowd welcomed him with open arms.
Brazil were not finished there. Within three minutes of the restart, Fred
received the ball on the left of the Spanish area and curled a shot
past Casillas. The No9 celebrated with his teammates as the crowd
created yet another incredible roar.
Spain were then given a lifeline when Marcelo took Jesus Navas down in the Brazil
penalty area. Sergio Ramos stepped up and hit his spot kick low and
hard to Julio Cesar’s right. The ball hit the post on its way out of
play and the keeper jumped to his feet to celebrate.
Gerard Pique saw red with just over 20 minutes left after scything down his new Barcelona team-mate Neymar as he sprinted towards goal.
Brazil saw the remainder of the game out to lift the trophy and end Spain's
world record run of unbeaten games. The Maracana celebrated the win
with gusto, and the host nation will be hoping that Thiago Silva
is lifting another iconic trophy in this stadium in just over 12 months'
time.
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