NUREMBERG, Germany, 26 June 2005 — Two goals from Adriano and a penalty by Ronaldinho gave world champions Brazil a 3-2 win over hosts Germany yesterday and a place in the Confederations Cup final against Argentina or Mexico.
An entertaining match played under cloudless blue skies on a hot night in southern Germany was decided when Adriano outpaced defender Robert Huth to strike a well-placed left-foot shot wide of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann after 76 minutes.
Brazil twice took the lead in the first half, only for Germany to equalize rapidly on both occasions.
The South Americans played the neater, sharper football in a strangely disjointed match, with Robinho stretching the German defenders with his mazy dribbles and Huth given a torrid evening by Adriano.
The Inter Milan striker netted Brazil’s first from a free kick, won a penalty when Huth fouled him after 43 minutes and then grabbed the winner for his third goal of the tournament.
Germany, playing with more confidence than at the start of the competition but still looking nothing like the force of old, cancelled out Brazil’s opener through Lukas Podolski and wiped out the second with a Michael Ballack penalty after he was tripped by Emerson.
But the hosts had no answer to Brazil’s third goal and only two good saves by Lehmann in the closing minutes saved Germany from a heavier defeat. The first two goals came from set-pieces midway through the first half.
Brazil opened the scoring from a 21st-minute free kick awarded by Chilean referee Carlos Chandia after Torsten Frings ended a jinking Robinho run with a clattering challenge 25 meters out. Ronaldinho squared up as if he was taking the kick but made a decoy run, allowing Adriano to crack a curling left-footed effort that took a deflection off the wall and flew past the stranded Lehmann.
