Brazil Advances To Final
The United States gets another chance at Brazil. And this time, there’s a nice, shiny trophy at stake.
Daniel Alves scored the only goal on a free kick in the 88th minute for a 1-0 victory at the Confederations Cup last night in Johannesburg, sending Brazil into the final against the surprising United States and ending host South Africa’s upset bid.
The final is the first at a FIFA tournament for the American men. It’s also a rematch of last week’s game in group play, when the five-time World Cup champions crushed the Americans, 3-0.
Brazil is 13-1 in head-to-head meetings with the United States, and has outscored the United States 26-8. The lone American victory was a 1-0 upset at the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.
“Brazil, we know well because they beat us pretty badly a week ago,” Landon Donovan said after the United States shocked top-ranked Spain in the first semifinal. “They would probably be comfortable playing against us, but I think we’re in a better place now.”
The Americans pulled off one of soccer’s biggest upsets Wednesday with their 2-0 victory over Spain. The reigning European champions had set an international record with 15 straight victories, and had tied Brazil’s record unbeaten streak of 35 games from December 1993 to January 1996.
The U.S. men, meanwhile, had been 1-7-1 against No. 1 teams. Its only other victory against a top-ranked opponent? That upset of Brazil in 1998.
“I didn’t watch the game last night because I was more concerned with the game today,” Brazil Coach Dunga said.
Good thing, because the South Africans gave lackluster Brazil all it could handle.
Brazil, normally so smooth and fluid, looked short of ideas and labored to find an opening. Just four days after Brazil routed Italy, 3-0, the ball inexplicably seemed to get stuck under the players’ feet
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Brazil Ends Search for Air France Bodies
Brazil has called off its search for more bodies and debris from the Air France flight that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean four weeks ago.
Brazil Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Henry Munhoz said Friday that it was not likely any more bodies or wreckage from the crash would be found. Search teams have recovered 51 bodies and hundreds of pieces of debris.
Flight 447, en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro with 228 people aboard, disappeared from radar over the Atlantic Ocean late on May 31.
Authorities say the search for the plane’s voice and flight data recorders will continue. The recorders would help investigators piece together the final minutes of the doomed flight that went down during a storm.
Last week, Air France announced it will pay an advance of about $24,000 to the families of each victim of the crash.
Air France CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said the company’s lawyers are in touch with the families to put the payments in process. He did not suggest that the compensation means an admission of guilt on the part of the airline.
The CEO also said a memorial service for the 228 victims is being planned.
The investigation has focused on the possibility that icing on the external speed sensors caused incorrect airspeed readings in the cockpit, which could have led the crew to fly dangerously fast or slow.
Air France has since replaced the sensors on its entire fleet of long-haul A330 and A340 planes.
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No French access to Brazil plane crash autopsies
France’s chief air disaster investigator said on Wednesday he was unhappy that a French pathologist had not been allowed to take part in autopsies in Brazil of bodies recovered after an Air France plane crash.
Brazilian and French ships are still searching for wreckage and bodies from the plane that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, killing all 228 people on board.
Paul-Louis Arslanian, head of the BEA agency in charge of investigating the crash, cautioned against speculation about the causes but said investigators were getting a little closer to understanding what had happened.
“We are getting a little closer to our goal but don’t ask me what the percentage of hope is,” Arslanian told a news conference, stressing the conditions in a remote area of ocean were among the most challenging in an air crash investigation.
He said a French pathologist sent to Brazil had not been authorized to take part in the autopsies of recovered bodies, and France had not had access to the Brazilian autopsy results.
During his televised news conference he declined to say more on the subject, but afterwards he was pressed by reporters to say if he was dissatisfied with the lack of access given to the French doctor.
“I am not happy. Eventually, I hope I’ll have an explanation. For the time being it is a fact and nothing more. Please don’t try to create problems between France and Brazil,” he said.
PATIENCE
Almost equal numbers of French and Brazilian passengers died in the crash of the Airbus A330, and both countries have been keen to show they are doing their utmost to recover bodies and understand the causes of the disaster.
Arslanian urged the public to show “a lot of patience” and to stick to known facts rather than engage in speculation.
The investigation agency has so far said data transmitted from the plane before it crashed indicated unreliable speed readings from the aircraft’s sensors, but that it was too early to say whether this contributed to the accident.
In order to establish the causes of the crash, the worst in Air France’s history, search teams must recover the plane’s flight data recorders or “black boxes.”
But the seabed where the plane is thought to have crashed is mountainous, meaning the wreckage could be lying at a depth of anything between 1 km (0.6 miles) and 4 km, investigators say.
The “pinger” locator beacons on the flight recorders send an electronic impulse every second for at least 30 days. The signal can be heard up to 2 km away.
“The goal is to understand what happened and for that we need tools and these tools must be facts. The recorders are recorders of facts. If we had them we would have more facts at our disposal,” Arslanian said.
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More mature Robinho one of Brazil's Soccer Leaders
Despite being one of Brazil’s youngest players, Robinho will be one of the team’s leaders when the Confederations Cup gets under way in South Africa.Robinho is only 25 years old, but is by far one of the most experienced players in Brazil’s squad for the competition that begins Sunday.
Along with Kaka and veteran team captain Lucio, Robinho will be in charge of trying to lead the Brazilian squad to its second consecutive Confederations Cup title.
“On the field, everybody has to (be the leader),” Robinho said Saturday. “But I’m much more mature now, more experienced. With time, you start getting a feel for what it is like to be playing for the national team.”
Only four players on the squad are younger than Robinho _ defender Miranda, midfielder Ramires, striker Alexandre Pato and forward Nilmar. But Robinho is the only player who was also with the team in the 2007 Copa America, the 2006 World Cup and the 2005 Confederations Cup.
Since Dunga took over the national team after the 2006 World Cup, Robinho is the player with the most caps. In 40 matches with Dunga in command, Robinho has missed only one _ a 2-0 loss to Portugal in a friendly in 2007. He is the team’s top scorer under Dunga with 13 goals.
The Manchester City forward knows his teammates are looking up to him in South Africa.
“The responsibility is greater now, there is no doubt,” Robinho said. “Each year you become more experienced, but the pressure also increases.”
Robinho, who made his international debut with the national team in 2003, said he is motivated. “My goal is to win the World Cup, and for this dream to come true I need to take advantage of my opportunity here and secure my spot for next year,” Robinho said.
The former Real Madrid striker scored a goal in Brazil’s last match _ a 2-1 win over Paraguay in South American World Cup qualifying on Wednesday _ but was cautious about promising more for the Confederations Cup.
“Every goal is important and I want to keep scoring,” Robinho said. “But we are at the end of the season and that makes things difficult to us. Hopefully with more practice time here in South Africa I can get in shape faster and do well in the Confederations Cup too.”
Brazil will debut on Monday against Egypt in a match Robinho calls “complicated.”
“Every opening match is difficult,” he said. “Especially because we still don’t know a lot about Egypt.”
Brazil then faces the United States and Italy in Group B. The top two teams in each of the two groups advance to the semifinals.
Robinho said he is not disappointed to have left Real Madrid after seeing that the Spanish club now acquired two of the world’s best players _ Brazilian teammate Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I have nothing against Madrid,” Robinho said. “I’m very thankful for them and I only wish them a lot of luck in this new phase.”
Robinho said he expects Kaka to become the world’s best player again after signing with Real Madrid.
“Kaka is an experienced player with quality to play anywhere,” Robinho said. “He can make history with Real Madrid too and I hope he can become the best in the world again there.”
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Places and Advice while visiting Brazil
There are a number of places that you can go and visit in Brazil, South America. There is only one place that is truly unforgettable Grande Sertão Veredas Park is that place. Its landscapes are covered with enormous amounts of bio and ecological diversity. Along with some of the local towns you can experience some of the historic buildings and cobblestone streets.
Along with visiting these places I do have a couple of suggestions for you.
* One of the premier places to visit is the The Amazonia National Park which is also known to the locals as ‘The Green Inferno’ It is named this because of the great expanse of natural ecological and biological diversity that covers a great majority of the Brazilian landscape.
* The Pantanal, is another location in the same area that is great for watching the local wildlife emerge from there hiding places. It is amazing to see, hear and experience wildlife in their natural habitat.
As you travel in brazil another place that is a must sea is the Atlantic coast and its beaches but be arned in the summer time the water off the coast can be notoriously rough and cold due to the currents and under-tones.
In most of the surrounding country you are looking at around 30 dollars for accommodations, about 20 for food, ect… so if you do plan to stay for awhile in Brazil a month or so it may be best to keep around 1500 on a credit card or bank account which you can remove via ATM as spending money. But if you go off the beaten track a little bit and stay away from the touristy spots you can expect to pay much less for the same services.
Only carry as much as you are comfortable carrying with you in terms of money and valuables. You will need cash and not simply Credit cards, Travelers checques, ect… you can save quite a bit by using it. But Brazil in areas is still a small country and not everyone will take credit cards outside the cities. So make sure you do plan accordingly. Traveler’s cheques can be a hassle because there is only a couple of banks (Banco de Brazil, etc) in Brazil where you can exchange them commission free.
But these places and with a liitle planning you can have a experience of a lifetime in Brazil. If you would like more information regarding brazil. Places to see, visit, eat, or even move as an expat. Or just the local news please visit and book mark my website
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