Brazil 2-1 Uruguay: Final ticket soaked in sweat
Brazil became the first team to enter the final of the 2013 Confederations Cup. However, to achieve that honor, Scolari and his team had to go through extremely tense moments and sweat a lot.
Paulinho seals 2-1 win for Brazil
Goal
Brazil: Fred (41'), Paulinho (86')
Uruguay: Cavani (48')
Before entering the semi-finals of the 2013 Confederations Cup, Coach Scolari assessed his opponents with a cautious attitude: "Uruguay's playing style has many points that cause us difficulties." The 64-year-old strategist's caution was not unnecessary because Uruguay caused many problems for Brazil's goal in the first 20 minutes.
This was the time when Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani did a great job as a decoy. He constantly moved around, attracting the attention of the Brazilian defenders. Thanks to that, Luis Suarez and veteran Diego Forlan had enough space to operate.
However, Uruguay's first chance came from a defender joining the attack. In the 14th minute, Lugano entered the penalty area and was pulled down by Brazil's David Luiz, giving Uruguay a penalty. However, veteran Forlan's shot was too weak and could not beat goalkeeper Cesar from 11m away.
Not long after this near miss, Brazil took control of the game thanks to the aggressiveness of the central midfield duo Luiz Gustavo - Paulinho, with Hulk often dropping deep to get the ball. After many central attacks, Brazil suddenly switched to the wing and succeeded. In the 41st minute, Neymar shot the ball from a tight angle, bouncing off goalkeeper Muslera and then into Fred's position, and the 29-year-old striker did not miss the delicious opportunity to open the score for Brazil.
While the strikers played with great effort, the Brazilian defense made consecutive mistakes. If in the first half Luiz blatantly dragged people in the penalty area, in the second half it was the turn of the remaining center back Thiago Silva to make mistakes. After a series of indecisive blocking situations by the Brazilian defense, Thiago Silva unexpectedly passed the ball to Cavani. The Uruguayan striker did not miss this gift, equalizing the score 1-1.
This goal was like a bucket of cold water on the sea of yellow shirts at Mineirao Stadium. On the sidelines, coach Scolari seemed quite impatient. He continuously brought Bernard and Hernanes onto the field to increase ball control. The pressure that Brazil created towards Uruguay's goal was finally rewarded in the 86th minute when Paulinho jumped high after a corner kick, headed into the Uruguayan net.
The 2-1 victory took Scolari's team to the Confederations Cup final. As for Uruguay, they can now only hope for the third-place match.
LINEUP
Brazil: Caesar; Alves, David Luiz, Thiago Silva, Marcelo; Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho; Hulk, Oscar, Neymar; Fred.
Uruguay: Muslera; Pereira, Lugano, Godin, Caceres; Arevalo, Rodriguez, Gonzalez; Forlan, Cavani, Suarez.
According to Bongdaplus - DT