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MOTD- Brazil 2-1 Uruguay

By on June 26, 2013
Paulinho wheels away to celebrate his late winner to send Brazil into the Confederations Cup finals with a win over Uruguay

Paulinho wheels away to celebrate his late winner to send Brazil into the Confederations Cup finals with a win over Uruguay

Paulinho popped up to snatch a hard-fought victory for Brazil just when extra-time heading into extra-time with Uruguay looked certain, earning the hosts of the Confederations Cup a spot in the finals of the tournament.  Although not a particularly convincing victory from Brazil, especially from Neymar, Luiz Scolari’s side got the job done to send them to the finals against either Italy or Spain.

Brazil’s low-par performance began at the start of the match, with both sides electing to boot the ball forward instead of dominate the midfield more often than not.  Uruguay didn’t pose much of a threat either, and Luis Suarez & co will rue a missed opportunity as Diego Forlan failed to convert a penalty in the eleventh minute.  Referee Enrique Osses correctly pointed to the spot as David Luiz hauled down Diego Lugano by the shirt while the pair where tussling in the box as a Uruguay corner flew into the box.  But Forlan failed to convert to put Uruguay in the lead, seeing his low penalty toward the corner of the net brilliantly tipped wide of the post by Julio Cesar.

Both sides still had trouble finding their fluency, as most of the play centered on the wings.  Forlan almost made up for his penalty miss just before the half-hour mark, and curled a shot inches over the bar from the edge of the box. Brazil then began to press, and after Fred poked a low cross from the left over the bar, the Selecao took the lead out of nowhere.  Paulinho hoisted a lovely ball over the top of the Uruguay defense to Neymar, who beautifully brought the ball down with his chest before attempting to poke the ball over Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera from a tight angle on the left.  Muslera managed to block the shot, but the loose ball fell to Fred, who saw his slicing volley from six yards nestle into the bottom corner of the net.

However, the lead was short lived as Uruguay equalized three minutes into the second half through Edison Cavani.  After ping-pong in the Brazil box, with Scolari’s side botching four chances to clear, Thiago Silva’s weak pass to Marcelo inside his own box was cut out by Cavani, who beautifully stroked the ball into across goal into the bottom corner of the net from fifteen yards.

Brazil responded brightly to Uruguay’s goal, and Hulk had his screaming long-range free-kick punched wide by Muslera in the fifty-sixth minute.  Uruguay looked very dangerous on their few attacks tough, and Silva’s wayward headed clearance from a Uruguay corner flew inches over the crossbar, before Folran’s deflected shot from the edge of the box whizzed just wide of the post.  But Brazil put pressure on in the final minutes, with the Selecao incredibly finding the winner in the eighty-sixth minute.  Paulinho rose up to meet Neymar’s in-swinging corner at the back post, and expertly slammed an unstoppable header into the bottom corner of the net.  Uruguay failed to find another equalizer though despite renewed effort, and Brazil saw out the 2-1 win to send then into the final.
Man of the Match: Paulinho

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.