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The Daily 5 - Confederations Cup Championship Sunday

June 29, 2009 11:25 AM | Posted by   John Molinaro  

On each match day during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, CBCSports.ca reporter and soccer expert John F. Molinaro will break down the day's major events and developments in The Daily 5.

Day 9, June 28, 2009

1) Best player: Luis Fabiano

Who else could it be?

With Brazil down 2-0, the Sevilla striker took matters into his own hands, scoring a pair of goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half to draw the Selecao level with the Americans.

A mere 40 seconds after the re-start, Fabiano took a pass at the top of the box and made a brilliant turn toward goal before firing a left-footed shot through defender Jay DeMerit's legs and past goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Brazil continued to press for the equalizing goal and was rewarded in the 74th minute when Fabiano bagged his fifth of the tournament.

The move started with Kaka as he blew by defender Jonathon Spector on the left side and sent a low cross into the box. Robinho hit the bar with his effort, but Fabiano followed it up with a header.

The contest was tied, setting the stage for captain Lucio's game-winning goal with six minutes left in regulation.

2) Best goal: Katlego Mphela

Fans had already left the stadium. With Spain sitting on a 2-1 lead over South Africa in the bronze-medal game, supporters of the Bafana Bafana thought the game was over.

It wasn't. Not by a long shot.

Deep into injury time the hosts won a free kick outside the penalty box. Katlego Mphela, who opened the scoring in the 73rd minute, stepped up and fired a shot from around 35 yards out over the Spanish wall and by goalkeeper Iker Casillas to tie the score at 2-2 and send the game into extra time.

One word: priceless!

3) Best substitution: Dani Guiza for Fernando Torres

Most Spanish fans must have been wondering what coach Vicente del Bosque was thinking when he took out Fernando Torres in the 57th minute and replaced him with Fenerbahce striker Dani Guiza.

But it was Del Bosque who came off looking like a genius, as Guiza scored two goals – in the 88th and 89th minutes – to help Spain come from 1-0 down to take a 2-1 lead late in the game.

4) Scene of the day: South African fans

Prior to Sunday's final in Johannesburg, Marc-Scott Foe, the 14-year-old son of Marc-Vivien Foe, read an emotional tribute for his fallen father. The former Cameroon midfielder collapsed during a semifinal game at the 2003 Confederations Cup in France and died soon after arriving in hospital.

5) Line of the day: Landon Donovan

A lot has been written about how the U.S. earned the respect of the soccer world by beating Spain and making it to the final of the Confederations Cup, the first time the senior American men's team has reached the final of a FIFA tournament.

But American forward Landon Donovan isn't concerned about earning respect.

"We're at the point where we don't want respect, we want to win," Donovan said after the final. "There's no guarantee we ever get back to a final game like this, so it's disappointing."

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