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Stayin' alive Brazil avoids elimination with 2-1 win over HondurasPosted: Wednesday July 16, 2003 12:48 AMUpdated: Wednesday July 16, 2003 6:06 AM
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Maicon and Diego scored as Brazil overcame the weather and an outstanding performance by their opponents' goalie to top Honduras 2-1 Tuesday and stay alive in the opening round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. A downpour pelted the pitch at the Mexican capital's Azteca Stadium throughout the first half, but did little to slow Brazil, which attacked the right side of the Honduran zone again and again. Several near-misses equally excited and pained a small crowd of 4,000, most of which retreated to the concourse level to escape the water but remained equally and loudly divided between Brazilian fans and supporters of Honduras. Maicon opened the scoring in the 15th minute. After Honduran goalkeeper Victor Coello batted away his long-range shot from the center, the speedy defender controlled the rebound and unleashed a cannon-blast from the right side that easily found the net's left corner. Honduras' goalie kept Brazil from scoring again two minutes later when he stuffed a point-blank penalty shot from the center by standout midfielder Kaka. The goalie came up big again in the 23rd minute when he jumped to stop a point-blank offering from midfielder Diego, who had broken free to the right of the goal. But Coello couldn't help Honduras' anemic offense, which couldn't manage a single shot on-goal the entire first half. The rain turned torrential at the start of the second period, which didn't help the Hondurans on either end of the field. Walter Hernandez just missed scoring on a free kick from the top of the box in the 74th minute, but Brazilian goalie Gomes leapt to knock away his blast. Brazilian midfielder Diego scored to make it 2-0 in the 85th minute, controlling a corner kick by Thiago Motta with his chest before punching the ball home. "On such a tough field and against a team playing as physical as Honduras was, we were still able to win," Diego said. Honduras' Julio Cesar "Rambo" Leon scored on a penalty shot on the final play of injury time to solidify the final. "In the second half we were the superior team," Honduran coach Edwin Pavon said. "Just when we were playing better they got the goal that killed us." Mexico topped Brazil 1-0 on Sunday and will meet Honduras on Thursday at Azteca in the final first-round match of Group A. A Mexican win or a tie against Honduras means both the host country and Brazil will earn a second-round berth. If Honduras beats Mexico on Thursday, all three of the group's teams will have finished with a record of 1-1, meaning who advances will be decided by the difference between each team's total number of goals scored versus the total number of goals it allowed. The Gold Cup is the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean and is of less importance to Brazil, who was invited to participate along with Colombia. Brazil sent its under-23 team to Mexico. The top two teams in each of the Gold Cup's four groups advance to the quarterfinals Saturday in Foxboro, Massachusetts, where two games will be played, and Miami, which will host one game. Another quarterfinal match will be held in Mexico City on Sunday. The winners will move on to the semifinals July 23 in Miami and July 24 in the Mexican capital. The championship match is set for Mexico City on July 27. Lineups: Brazil: Gomes, Maicon, Luisao, Alex, Adriano, Paulo Almeida, Julio Baptista, Kaka, Ewerthon (Carlos Alberto 70th minute), Diego, Robinho (Thiago Motta, 54th minute). Honduras: Milton Jose Palacios, Eric Valleciollo, Jaime Rosales, Oscar Suazo (Jairo Martinez, 70th minute), Julio Cesar Leon, Wilmer Raynel (Elvis Turcios, 45th minute), Javier Martinez, Walter Hernandez, Oscar Bonilla (Emil Martinez, 75th minute), Luis Guifarro, Victor Coello Referee: Mauricio Navarro, Canada.
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