Brazil in the final

13 April 2012

Brazil reached the final of the Copa America after a dramatic penalty shootout win over Uruguay that coach Carlos Alberto Parreira hailed as "a baptism of fire" for his side.

Brazil won through to meet rivals Argentina despite resting several top players such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka and fielding a young, experimental team instead.

Parreira, whose side won 5-3 on penalties following their 1-1 draw in normal time, said: "It was a baptism of fire. We took the five penalties majestically and we showed great emotional control.

"Penalties are also a matter of technical quality and I think we were superb, the three days we spent practising paid off. I'm very satisfied because we got better as we went along.

"This young team was formed during the competition and to reach the final, after playing against two very good teams such as Mexico and Uruguay required quality and mettle."

Parreira was also pleased to have avoided playing Saturday's third-place match, which will be staged at high altitude in the Andean city of Cusco, nearly 1,000 kilometres from Lima.

"I'm very satisfied to have got the to final and to not have to play in Cusco at 3,400 metres," he added. "That's something which frightened us a lot." The Brazilians scored all five of their spot-kicks, with Julio Cesar's save from Vicente Sanchez proving decisive leaving Alex to score the winner to see off Uruguay, who led 1-0 at half-time and also missed several decent opportunities.

Marcelo Sosa had headed Uruguay into a 22nd-minute lead, his effort bouncing over the Brazil goalkeeper who went to ground early.

And Uruguay should have been at least 2-0 up by the break but Dario Silva missed an open target from less than six yards, blazing his shot against the crossbar.

Following a lacklustre firsthalf, world champions Brazil clearly needed to improve and they did.

They hit back in the 46th minute when Adriano bundled the ball home from close range after Luis Fabiano had fired a dangerous pass across the face of goal. It was the striker's sixth goal of the competition.

Both sides then had chances to win the game during 90 minutes, Adriano in particular threatened on numerous occasions but the match was eventually decided on penalties after no extra-time was played.

Meanwhile, Argentina midfielder Javier Zanetti is confident about his side's chances: "We're playing great football."

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Brazil in the final

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