Monday, 4 June 2012

Brazil clinch the 8-Nation International Tournament

Brazil overcame Argentina 2-0 in the Final of the 8-Nation International Tournament at Cape Town Stadium on Sunday, needing extra-time to overcome their old foes.

The match got off to an energetic and fast-paced start with play flowing end to end between the two evenly matched opponents.

Brazil had the first chance when Joao Filipo's free kick was tipped over by Walter Benitez.

At the other end Argentine midfielder Alan Ruiz came even closer when his free kick forced Matheus de Oliveira into making a full stretched dive to keep the ball out of goal.

Four minutes later and Benitez was again in action as he rushed out to beat Adelmison Bispo Jnr to a long ball, the Argentine keeper giving away a free kick just outside the box after bringing down his opponent, receiving a yellow card for his troubles.

Argentina then had two chances in quick succession as Carlos Ruiz had a near post drive saved before Jonathan Valle headed a powerful effort just wide.

Bispo Jnr looked up for it after the break and his lively runs soon had the Argentine defence under pressure.

It was from a corner though that Brazil came close to scoring as Misael Bueno went very close with his header, getting up well amongst a crowd of players.

In the 55th minute it was Argentina's turn to attack and Alan Ruiz nearly looped in a header, after he had done well to hang in the air long enough to make contact. KickOff

Bispo again demonstrated his pace on 63 minutes, stretching the Argentina defence before having his near post shot saved.

Ruiz then saw his curling and dipping drive miss by a few inches as chances on goal remained evenly shared.

The remainder of the 90 minutes remained tight, with no real clear-cut chances in the box the game went into 30 minutes of extra time.

It was Argentina who looked more dangerous in the first half of extra time, putting the Brazil goal under constant pressure, though not really coming close to scoring.

But it was Brazil who were to finally break the deadlock, just a minute into the second period of extra time as Bispo Jnr picked the ball up out wide, drove goal wards and then fired in a low left-footed drive from 18 yards.

Argentina came back strongly as they desperately tried to get back into the game.
But when Bispo Jnr went on another breathtaking solo run in the 115th minute it earned Brazil a penalty after he was brought down by Valle.

Felipe made no mistake from the spot to secure the 2-0 win for Brazil.

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