Warning: a 2-0 lead at halftime can never be considered safe against the fleet-footed Brazilian national soccer team.

In the FIFA Confederations Cup final in Johannesburg, the United States did their best to keep up the recent momentum of defeating top-ranked Spain in the semifinals. Taking a 2-0 lead into the locker room at the intermission after goals by Clint Dempsey (’10) and Landon Donovan (’27), it seemed the Americans were on the move.

In the second half, however, the dream of victory started to defer behind the two goals of Luis Fabiano (’46 and ‘74) and the late strike of Lucio (’84) to put Brazil up for good. Per FIFA.com, Brazil demonstrated why this 3-2 Confederations Cup championship victory makes them a team to watch for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa next summer.

American goalkeeper Tim Howard did all he could against the 31 shots Brazil kicked his way, but eventually the 254-minute scoreless streak of the Americans had to come to an end — along with the potential miracle of upsetting the Brazilians.

#confedcup final kickoff Brazil v USA (via @rubygold)

Twitterers responded to this nail-biting Confederations Cup final:

1. 
   pjflynn23 Honestly, did anybody really think “yeah, we got this” at half? #usmnt 28 Jun 2009 from TwitterFon
2. 
   Southsiders Pity the Yanks couldn’t upset Brazil. Oh well, the Gold Cup should be a cracker. #confedcup 28 Jun 2009 from web
3. 
   araia1906 I was hoping the US would win . I love rooting for Brazil but this was the US’s only chance to win anything. 28 Jun 2009 from TweetDeck
4. 
   victors Its good to be wearing green and yellow. #confedcup 28 Jun 2009 from twidroid
5. 
   chewzz USA almost pulled it off. Too bad. Now we’ve got to contend with yet another Brazil win. Insufferable! 28 Jun 2009 from Tweetie
6. 
   KevinGehl Nice try US Soccer, but you’re gonna have to learn to play a full 90 minutes to win a FIFA trophy. 28 Jun 2009 from web
   
   

Do you think the Americans can capitalize on this successful run or was this just a fluke? Let us know! Send a reply to @BTSports or @BTSports_SMC. Ole!

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