Technical Report and Statistics - Fifa

14 Story of the tournament
give Brazil the lead. Finally, in the closing minutes of the fi rst
half, Brazil, led by Kaká, who was predictably at the heart of
the majority of his side’s breaks and combining well with his
colleagues, scored another two goals to take a comfortable
lead at half-time. Italy had to put in extra effort to recover
after the break, and they pushed forward in search of their
fi rst goal of the game. However, their lack of strikepower
up front saw them fail to break through the well-organised
Brazilian defence and they bowed out of the tournament at
an early stage.
Egypt v. USA 0-3 (0-1)
The USA, with two defeats in their fi rst two matches, did
not have much hope of advancing to the second stage,
but they performed with great focus. A solid, organised
defence combined with determined attacking play was the
key to their success. Davies (9) opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Egypt were unable to respond as their key striker,
Zidan, was missing due to injury. Despite their individual
ability, they were never able to put the USA in trouble and
they did not perform as well as they had in their fi rst two
matches. The USA took their chance, Bradley (12) combining
well with Donovan to score the second goal. A header from
Dempsey (8) completed the scoring and dramatically put the
USA into the semi-fi nals ahead of Italy on goals scored.
SECOND ROUND
SEMI-FINALS
Spain v. USA 0-2 (0-1)
The USA caused another sensation by beating European
champions Spain 2-0 to book a place in their fi rst-ever
fi nal of a senior FIFA men’s event. The Spanish controlled
possession from the beginning but could not break through
the well-organised and compact American defence. After
USA striker Altidore had scored halfway through the fi rst
half, leaving the Spanish reeling for a while, Spain lifted their
game after the break with plenty of movement and accurate
passes. However, it was all in vain and they failed to release
their strikers for shots on goal. Frustration took over when
they conceded their second goal to Dempsey. Spain’s attacks
in the last phase of the match failed to penetrate the solid
USA defensive block, and it was the USA who advanced to
the fi nal.
Brazil v. South Africa 1-0 (0-0)
Brazil dominated the match from the start and they had a
number of goalscoring opportunities through Luis Fabiano,
Kaká and Robinho. However, they could not get past the
compact defence of the host nation. Led by key player
Pienaar in midfi eld, Bafana Bafana proved to be strong
opponents. Both sides nearly scored towards the end of the
fi rst period but their shots were either saved or blocked by
defenders. South Africa remained determined thanks to the
support of their enthusiastic fans, but Brazil swiftly regained