Brazil survived the first major scare of the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa on Monday as Kaka buried a penalty kick in the 90th minute to give the world’s No. 5-ranked team a nerve-racking 4-3 win over Egypt.
The 40th-ranked Egyptians were minutes away from a stunning draw when defender Ahmed Al Muhammadi used his shoulder to block a Lucio shot at the goal line. Brazil was awarded the penalty, and Kaka buried his second of the match into the lower right portion of the net.
“Our team is really, really, very tired,” said Brazil coach Dunga, whose team won World Cup qualifiers at Uruguay on June 6 and at home against Paraguay four days later. “With our technical quality we were able to overcome it.”
The five-time World Cup champions took a 3-1 lead into halftime of the Group B opener after Kaka opened the scoring in the fifth minute and Luis Fabiano and Juan added goals of their own to erase Mohamed Zidan’s ninth-minute marker.
Egypt, though, refused to go quietly. Mohamed Shawki scored in the 54th minute, and just moments later Zidan notched his second of the game to tie it 3-3 and silence the Brazilians fans in attendance in Bloemfontein.
Kaka’s late heroics gave Brazil its fifth win in five matches against Egypt, although the last time they played was in 1963.
The other two teams in Group B Italy and the United States were set to play later (CBC-Bold, CBCSports.ca, 2:25 p.m. ET).
A day after Spain humiliated New Zealand 5-0 in Group A action on the tournament’s opening day, it looked like another blowout was in the offing. Just minutes after kickoff, Kaka knocked down a pass at the top of the penalty area and beat three Egyptian defenders who offered little resistance to the pricey Real Madrid midfielder.
But Egypt struck back quickly as Mohamed Aboutrika delivered a textbook cross that Zidan headed in to even the match.
Brazil answered with a pair of headers set up by Elano. The Manchester City midfielder blasted a free kick that Fabiano got his noggin on in the 12th minute, and in the 37th minute airmailed a corner that Juan redirected home with his skull to make it 3-1.
Egypt wasted little time climbing back into contention in the second half as Shawky beat Brazil goalie Julio Cesar with a low ball just 10 minutes in. Off the ensuing kickoff, Aboutrika sent Zidan in alone and the Boroussia Dortmund forward made no mistake.
The Egyptians played hard through the five minutes of extra time, even testing Cesar with an Ahmed Eid shot before the final whistle.
