Brazil celebreates Felipe Melo's goal in the seventh minute. (Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images)Brazil moved a step closer to the semifinals of the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa with a convincing 3-0 win over the United States on Thursday.
Felipe Melo and Robinho scored in the first half in Pretoria, and Maicon iced it with a second-half goal as Brazil answered any doubts about the quality of its side after struggling to beat Egypt 4-3 in its opener.
The Americans were reduced to 10 men for the second straight game after Sacha Kljestan was sent off in the 57th minute.
"I like the way we played," Brazil coach Dunga said after his country improved to 13-1 all time against the U.S. "The team didn't let the U.S. pressure us. We changed the ball from side to side very quickly. That helped us a lot."
Brazil (2-0-0) tops Group B with six points heading into its final first-round match Sunday against Italy (1-0-0). That could be a showdown for first place if the Italians beat Egypt later Thursday (CBCSports.ca, 2 p.m. ET).
An Italy win over Egypt would put both Italy and Brazil into the semis while eliminating the U.S. (0-0-2) and Egypt (0-0-1).
Brazil had cited fatigue as a factor in its unimpressive win over Egypt, but the team looked reinvigorated on Thursday. Melo opened the scoring in the seventh minute, heading home a brilliant free kick delivered from the right sideline by Maicon, who was later named the man of the match.
Brazil made it 2-0 in the 20th minute. Charging upfield on a two-on-one with Robinho, Ramires waited until the last moment to slip the ball over to his teammate, who slotted it home from point-blank range.
The U.S. faced a tall order in trying to rally from a 2-0 deficit at the half, and the task became tougher when Kljestan received a red card for a hard tackle on Ramires. The Americans had also been forced to play a man down for most of their 3-1 loss to Italy after Ricardo Clark was sent off in the 33rd minute.
"He played the ball off before I got there and I got him in the foot," said Kljestan, who is suspended for the first-round finale against Egypt. "I don't know if it was a red or not but the end state is that I let my team down today.
"It surprised me because the game played on and [the referee] took a few minutes. Someone must have talked in his ear but I don't know who."
The third goal showcased the Brazilians' exquisite ball movement. Advancing on the American penalty area, Maicon gave the ball up to Ramires, who tipped it to Kaka, who returned a lightning-quick touch pass to a streaking Maicon. The talented defender completed the gorgeous three-way give-and-go by tucking a shot just under the crossbar.
So thorough was Brazil's dominance that the U.S. didn't have a real scoring chance until substitute Benny Feilhaber hit the bar with seven minutes left. Another close call followed when Conor Casey headed Landon Donovan's corner off the bar.
The Brazilians put a robust 11 shots on target against American goalie Tim Howard, while the U.S. managed only two.