Brazil won the FIFA Confederations Cup for the second time, beating Argentina 4-1 Wednesday night behind a pair of goals by Adriano.
 Brazilian national soccer team players celebrate at the of the final of the Confederations Cup between Argentina and Brazil in Frankfurt, Germany Wednesday June 29, 2005. Brazil won the match 4-1. [AP] |
Kaka and Ronaldinho also scored for the defending World Cup champions, who played the tournament without top forward Ronaldo, taking a break following his Spanish League season with Real Madrid, and other stars such as Roberto Carlos and Cafu.
"It's wonderful for Brazil to have so many talented forwards," Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. "We have many good players, and I don't think other teams have so many, so I think that it's a good problem. We have good replacements. It's wonderful."
Adriano, who led the tournament with five goals, scored in the 11th minute when collected a ball from Cicinho, turned inside between two defenders, jumped over a third and beat goalkeeper German Lux with a powerful left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty. Adriano got another goal in the 63rd when he outjumped Gabriel Heinze and headed in Cicinho's cross from six yards.
Kaka scored from 20 yards in the 16th minute off a short pass from Robinho, and Ronaldinho headed Cicinho's cross into the goal in the 47th. Robinho nearly scored in the 57th minute, hitting the crossbar.
"We put on a GREat show," Ronaldinho said. "It was our best performance of the competition."
Pablo Aimar got Argentina's goal in the 65th minute.
"Despite the defeat, there are many positive aspects that Argentina hope to take from the Confederations Cup experience," Argentina coach Jose Pekerman said.
Brazil, a five-time World Cup champion, also won this tournament in 1997.
Even though the roof was closed at the newly built Waldstadion, one of the sites of next year's World Cup, rain from a thunderstorm leaked onto the field.
In the third-place game at Leipzig, Michael Ballack scored on a free kick seven minutes into overtime to lead Germany over Mexico 4-3.
Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Robert Huth also scored for Germany, which played a man short after Mike Hanke was ejected in the 54th minute.
Jared Borgetti scored twice and Jose Fonseca once for Mexico, which tied the game three times after trailing.
"We had tremendous performances in this tournament," Mexico's coach Ricardo La Volpe said. "We played very well and we played against big teams and we always believed in ourselves."
